Percy Jackson Son of Hearth and Sea: The Lightning Thief
by Riptide013
Summary: At the age of five, Percy Jackson's life is changed completely on the night his mother died. With nowhere to go he is guided and taken in by the least likely group of people and trained to become the greatest man to ever live. He will face a fate no hero has ever had to endure but he won't do it alone. My first fanfic. Swearing in future chapters. Review, Follow and Favourite
1. What's with all the silver?

**Percy Jackson Son of Hearth and Sea: The Lightning Thief**

 **A/N Hello everyone, this is the first chapter to my first fanfic and I really hope you enjoy this story, it's been on my mind for literally ages but I have only been able to start writing now. So without further ado let's get this story underway.**

 **Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own PJO, Rick Riordan does :'(  
**

* * *

 **Chapter 1:**

Running, running and running.

For what I think has been a whole week that's all I've been doing. Running.

Running from what exactly?

I'm not sure you'd believe me if I told you, but I'm going to tell you anyway.

They're dogs the size of bears with midnight black fur and red eyes.

Laugh if you want it's the truth. But anyways, as I was saying, I am currently running for my life in some God forsaken forest trying to lose the giant dog-bear things.

Why a forest you ask? The voice in my head told me to. You must think I'm crazy now but everything I'm about to tell you is the truth, because my life is about to change completely.

So, I'm currently running (as I've established) through a forest listening to the voice that's giving me directions to go in. I'm pretty sure the voice is a woman's voice but I'm mainly focused on trying not to die. It's dark from the night sky, I'm frightened, with cuts and scratches all over my body. My clothes are torn and bloody and I think I have twigs and leaves stuck in my hair and I'm exhausted, but my will to not die is keeping me going.

I can hear the growls of the dog-bear things somewhere behind me. They have been chasing me ever since I left my home in Manhattan and I have barely given a break (Probably an hour of rest at best) and it's all thanks to Smelly Gabe.

 **Flashback:**

I was sitting on the couch of my apartment with my mum, Sally Jackson, eating blue chocolate chip cookies and talking about nothing and everything. My mum has long wavy brown hair with eyes that seemed to change between blue and green and she is, in my opinion, the sweetest and greatest and most beautiful person in the whole world which just goes to show that the best people have the worst luck. I don't know why she did, but she got married to a walrus of a man named Gabe Ugliano. He was okay for the first thirty seconds that I knew him then he showed his true colors.

He started drinking, smoking and gambling inside our apartment and now there are beer bottles and cans everywhere. The place smells almost as bad as he does. Gabe is a really fat guy, with at least three strands of hair on his head and they're combed back as if it would make him more handsome. He smells so bad that when I get close to him I want to vomit.

But that's not the worst part, the worst part is the beatings. Every day, whenever my mum isn't around he'll hit me and I can't do anything about it. He'll just hit me and hit me until he's satisfied.

Then he'll tell me, "Tell anyone and I'll make your life hell!" _My life_ is _hell_ I want to say, but I bite my tongue and stay quiet about it. I want to tell my mum about what he does to me but I'm terrified of what he will do.

So, as me and my mum we're talking we hear loud thumping and someone cursing heading towards our door. I recognize the voice as Smelly Gabe's. My mum looks at me panicked and whispers quickly "Baby, go to your room and don't you dare come out."

I look at her questioningly but one look at the scared look on her face and I quickly comply.

Gabe's footsteps are now right outside the apartment when I reach my bedroom door. As soon as I stepped inside my room, the apartment door bursts open with a very drunk and very angry looking Gabe. I slip inside my room and keep the door opened a bit so I can peak outside.

Gabe looks at my mum and he seems to just get angrier. Mum quickly stood up and went to open her mouth to speak but before she could do anything Gabe did something that made me freeze in shock. He backhanded her across the face, my mum yelped from the attack and fell to the floor. Before she could do anything else, Gabe kicked her onto her back and punched her repeatedly while saying profanities at her, while mum tried to feebly block his onslaught and I could only watch in horror as the man who made our lives worse continuously beat the person that never got mad at anyone and who would always feed me blue chocolate chip cookies just to make me feel better.

After what seemed to be forever he finally stopped. My mum was bleeding from some cuts on her face and she had bruises everywhere. Gabe started to walk towards the kitchen but mum grabbed his leg.

"Let go bitch!" He yelled then kicked her in the face. Mum let go and he continued his way to the kitchen.

Tears started falling from my eyes as I looked at how horrible my mother looked, I wanted to help her but I was too scared to move thinking that he would come after me. My mum started to get up again and I could hear her whimpering I was about to run over and help her but she seemed to read my mind because she looked in my direction and gave me a look that told me to stay where I was.

Before I could argue Gabe came back with a beer bottle in his hand sneering at my mother. He trudged over to her and before she could react Gabe smashed the bottle over her head and sent her once again sprawled on the floor and she screamed in pain as shards of glass were impaled into her skin. Before she could recover Gabe lifted his arm with the smashed beer bottle over my mum and brought it down straight into her back and she made a strangled scream of agony.

"NOO!" I finally screamed. My blood started to boil and I could feel a strange tug in my gut. Then suddenly, water exploded from the pipes in the walls getting everything wet. The only spot that didn't get wet was where I was standing and where my mum was lying down.

Gabe was blasted away from my mum and was sputtering more profanities at me and flailing around and looking very much like a walrus. My mum, with what looked to be great difficulty, raised her head to look at me and managed mouth one word, _Run._ Then her head dropped and she stopped moving.

I was once again frozen on the spot unsure of what I should do. I wanted to go to my mum and just simply hug her but Gabe was still alive and who knows what he would to do me. Or I could run away and escape Smelly Gabe and whatever he has in store for me.

While all this was going through my head Gabe had recovered and was headed towards me. "You're next you little freak!" he growled at me.

On instinct, I thrust my arms out towards him and some of the water that was now flooding the apartment blasted him back on the ground and as quick as I could I ran back into my room and towards my window where the fire escape is.

"Come here you little shit!" Gabe growled as he grabbed me by my neck and pulled me back in. My instincts seemed to kick in again because before he could pull me all the way in I managed to spin myself around and land a punch straight into his nose with a nasty _CRUNCH!_

"Aaaagghhh!" Gabe screamed. He dropped me onto the floor and I climbed out the window as quick as I could before Gabe could recover and climb down the fire escape while Smelly Gabe screamed bloody murder at me. As soon as I reached the ground I bolted away and then it was just a five-year-old boy versus the world.

 **End Flashback:**

I've been running for a whole week since then. I've managed to steal some food from some stores to keep myself from starving.

But let's focus back on what's happening right now.

I've been running for what feels like eternity when I heard the voice in my head again, _Yell for help little one._

I didn't really appreciate being called little but I did as the voice asked because it's managed to keep me alive for this long.

"HELP! HELP!" I screamed. I don't know who I was yelling for but anyone would do right now. I continued screaming for help for a few more seconds before I saw what looked like tents further ahead. So, I doubled my efforts even as my muscles protested against the action.

When I managed to see the tents clearer I realized that they were glowing silver, but I didn't get time to think about why. I saw someone that looked like a girl wearing a silver parka walking around the tents.

"HELP!" I screamed again. It seems she heard me this time because she turned in my direction. Now normally when you see a poor tired, beaten and scratched boy in the middle of the woods you'd run to them to see what's wrong, but that's obviously not what she does, because she just seemed to get angry and then in the blink of an eye she was holding a BOW with an ARROW notched and she was pointing it at me. Where the heck did she get that from?!

" _Halt_ _boy_!" She yelled at me. I stopped dead in my tracks, but not literally thank goodness.

I tried telling her that there was some rabid bear dog-things chasing me while pointing in the direction they were but I think it just came out as gibberish because I was too exhausted to say anything and I could see the confusion on her face.

It looked like she was about to say something else but she was quickly cut off by the growls and howls of the dog-bear things that were chasing me were now right behind me. The dog-bear things all suddenly came to a stop and started to growl and glare at the silver girl while she glared back and I was stuck in the middle of the two sides. The girl suddenly pulled out what looked like some sort of horn and blew into it and a sharp noise came out.

It was quiet for a few seconds then the dog-bear things charged straight towards me. I was too exhausted to run anymore so I held my breath, closed my eyes and raised my arms to try and brace myself for my imminent death but it never came. Instead there were several, _twang,_ sounds and several yelps and what felt like dust cover me. I lowered my arms a bit and opened one of my eyes to see what had happened, only to find the sight of piles of what looked like gold dust of where the dog-bear things were.

I open both my eyes and bend over a bit so I can put my hands on my knees and take in huge breaths of air now that my exhaustion has finally caught up and I can rest for a little bit.

Once I had deemed I gained a significant amount of oxygen to talk properly, I turned around to thank whoever it was that just saved my life only to be greeted with the sight of about a dozen silver girls with bows aimed towards me and glaring at me as if I just did the worst thing imaginable, so I did the natural thing any five-year-old boy would do.

"Aaaagghhh!" I screamed. I fell back onto my butt and quickly shuffled away. "P-p-please, d-don't hurt m-me." I stuttered while backing up into one of the trees. One of the girls came forward with bow still aimed at me, but unlike the others she had some kind of tiara on her head, but it looked like a circle. I'll give you three guesses what color it was.

"How did you find this place _boy_?!" tiara-girl demanded from me and saying boy like it was the worst thing in the world.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and replied "V-v-voice, in my head, g-gave me d-directions."

Tiara-girl was about to say something else when another girl stopped her "Zoë, enough!" The girl now known as Zoë simply looked at the other girl questioningly. She just ignored her and addressed everyone else "Hunters, stand down, he is merely a boy. He does not need to feel so threatened after what he has just encountered."

The silver girls now known as Hunters lowered their bows at the apparent leader. I'm not sure how she was the leader because she seemed to be younger than most of the other girls there, maybe around twelve, and Zoë is the one wearing the tiara.

I looked a little bit closer at the two girls. Zoë was tall with dark brown eyes, a slightly upturned nose, copper-colored skin, and looked to be around fourteen and with the silver circlet on her made her look like a princess. The smaller girl next to her had auburn colored hair pulled back into a ponytail with pale skin. But her eyes were the most intriguing, they were a silvery-yellow color like the moon and strikingly beautiful.

"Milady, what shall we do with him?" Zoë asked the smaller girl. I don't think her name is actually Milady.

"Simple" the smaller girl replied, "we shall question him, without violence." I was starting to like this girl more than the others.

"Very well then," Zoë replied although she didn't sound very happy about it, "Hunters resume your duties!" She ordered them.

The smaller girl slowly walked her way towards me while the others excluding Zoë left to go back towards the tents. The events of the week had seemed to finally catch up on me, my breathing started to quicken and I could feel tear running down my face. I suddenly started to feel very light headed. The girl crouched down and asked me, "What is your name?"

My vision started to blur but I managed to say, "P-perseus J-jackson, but I like to be called P-percy better."

The girl nodded and replied, "Hello Percy, I am Artemis, Goddess of the Moon." As soon as she finished saying that I fell back and everything faded away into darkness. Or maybe that was just me.

* * *

 **A/N Hey guys, I hope you enjoyed this first chapter and please Review and let me know what you thought about it and what I can do to improve. I'll be updating as often as I can no specific time sets, you'll get a chapter when you get a chapter 3:)**

 **Anyways, thanks again**

 **Goodbye my Greek geeks**


	2. Am I dead? Nope, I'm insane

**Percy Jackson Son of Hearth and Sea: The Lightning Thief**

 **A/N Hello again my Greek geeks (hehe Greek geeks I like that). A new chapter for all of you to enjoy and it's so early after the first one too. Please review, let me know if you like it and what I can improve on. Next chapter will be out... Yeah, I have no idea either. Anyways on with the story.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own PJO Rick Riordan does *sniffles***

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

After I blacked out, The first thing I thought was _I'm dead_. But I realized I can't be dead because I thought I was dead and dead people don't think.

So, with that strange epiphany, I'm not dead. I think.

But then I started hearing whispers coming from all around me and it made me rethink my idea of not being dead. _The voices of the dead,_ is what my brain supplies me with _._ That idea is reinforced when I feel myself lying down on something comfortable. _My death bed,_ my brain tells me. Then I start to see a light and it's slowly getting brighter and brighter and brighter.

Then I open my eyes and a groan escapes my lips. _Not dead, stupid brain._ The whispers stop and my vision starts to clear up a little bit. For a few scary seconds, I don't know who I am or where I am and I bolt upright, which only serves to give me a headache and another groan. I rub my head to ease the pain and when my vision clears up I find myself in some kind of over-sized tent, then I see a few girls in silver around my bed and then the events of the week all come crashing down on me like a tsunami.

I remember my mother's death by the hand of my evil step-father Smelly Gabe, running away from the evil dog-bear things, the voice in my head that led me to the (probably evil) girls in silver who call themselves "Hunters" that were armed with bows and arrows which were about to make me look like a pin-cushion and the strange girl who called herself, Armani, or something like that, and said she was a Goddess. I was really starting to question my sanity at this point.

I felt tears rolling down my cheeks and my heart is pounding inside my chest and my breathing starts to quicken but I quickly wipe my tears away and try to calm myself down a little bit. But it doesn't work and the dam finally breaks. All the emotions that I experienced over the week have finally caught up to me and now they're being released.

I'm not sure for how long I've been crying, but it starts to lessen when a strange feeling washes over me that reminds me of home before Smelly Gabe, when it was just me and my mum and all my grief starts to slowly drift away. I wipe my face to get rid of the tears on my face and compose myself.

When I just about finished getting myself under control I took a look around to see several other beds going along the walls of the tent with the aisle down the middle. _Some sort of medic bay,_ I think. There were several girls including the girl with the tiara, who I recall as Zoë, were inside the tent as well and they were all glaring at me. The smaller girl, Armani (such a weird name), wasn't there with us however.

I was about to ask where Armani was but Zoë spoke before I could "Naomi, let Artemis know the boy is awake." _Ohhh, so her name_ isn't _Armani, great, now I just feel stupid_. The girl Naomi nods and leaves to go and get Artemis which leaves the rest of us in a very uncomfortable silence. I used this time to look at the other girls a little bit more. One of them was a big and burly girl with ginger hair and a brutish looking face. Another was a short lithe girl with a slight tan and chestnut brown hair with earthy brown eyes. The last girl is a few inches taller than the brown-haired girl with midnight black hair and sky blue eyes.

Shortly after I finished observing them, Artemis entered the tent with Naomi trailing behind her. Artemis just observed me for a little bit, probably wondering what a boy like me is doing in the woods all by himself.

"How did you find this place boy?" Artemis finally asked me. The way she said it made me feel like I should cross my legs for some reason.

I cleared my throat and answered her, "A voice in my head, told me to go this way. Said I could be safe from those things that were chasing me." The girls snickered when I said there was a voice in my head. Artemis just raised an eyebrow at my explanation.

"Why were you in the forest in the first place?"

"I ran away from home." I answered vaguely.

"And why did you run from home?" she asked me.

It seemed she really wanted to know the actual reason for why I'm in the woods and although I didn't really want to tell her, I didn't see a way around her question. So instead, I just asked her a question of my own. "Who are you people?"

Artemis seemed annoyed that I didn't answer her question but she answered mine anyway, "I am Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt, Moon, Wilderness and Maidenhood. And these are my hunters, many of them have served me for millennia." I wasn't sure what to say after that because it just filled my head with even more questions. She seemed to know what I was thinking because before I could ask any of them she said, "Your questions will be answered, but first you must answer my questions."

I realized that there was no way out of this so I decided to just answer her questions.

"You say that a voice in your head, lead you into my camp, do you know who the voice was?" She asked me.

I shook my head and answered, "I don't know who she was but I had a feeling that I should listen."

"She?" Artemis questioned.

Before I could answer the flap to the tent opened again and this time, a woman walked in and she wasn't dressed like a hunter. Instead she wore a brown robe that went all the way down to her feet. When I looked at her face my breath caught because she looked almost like my mum, but I could tell that it wasn't actually her because her eyes were the colors of flames like the ones you see in a fireplace and they made me feel warm inside. Her brown hair was done in some fancy way and with her high cheekbones she looked like royalty.

"Hello young one," the woman says and my breath hitches because her voice was the same voice as the one that was in my head. The Hunters looked stunned because of the woman's presence but they shook it off quickly and bowed to her.

"Aunt Hestia, you know this boy?" Artemis asked the woman now known as Hestia.

The woman just smiled kindly and answered, "Yes I do, I have been watching over him for quite some time."

I found it a little bit creepy that someone I don't even know was watching me but I dismissed it and said, "You're the voice that was in my head."

The woman smiled at me and replied, "Yes young one, I am Hestia, Goddess of the Hearth and Home, Peacekeeper of the Olympians and you have many questions to ask." Then with a wave of her hand several comfortable looking chairs appeared for every person in the room and they all sat, except me because I was still lying in the bed.

* * *

 **A/N There's the second chapter, it's not much but I didn't want to make it too lengthy because the next chapter will contain a lot more of the plotline in it.**

 **Please review and let me know what you think and if you really liked it follow and fav this story.**

 **Goodbye my Greek geeks**


	3. Questions answers and more questions

**Percy Jackson Son of Hearth and Sea: The Lightning Thief**

 **A/N Hello again everyone, a new chapter for all of you out there in the world. I was hoping I could post this a lot earlier but I caught a virus and I've been basically asleep for the entire day, but I'm good now. Anyways, please review what you think and follow and fav if you really like it.**

 **Reviews:**

 **The Yellow Panda: Thank you my good sir**

 **Death Fury: You'll just have to find out and see what happens**

 **SuitedClown: There will be plenty more cliffhangers to come 3:)**

 **Swimybo: I'm glad it did, that's what I was hoping for, btw really love your story "Chaos' Best Friend"**

 **Disclaimer: I am not Rick Riordan so therefore I do not own PJO *sobs hysterically***

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

The woman who called herself Hestia, was sitting in a chair to my left smiling gently while Artemis and her Hunters were seated my right and front, respectively, with scowls on their faces. I'm pretty sure that they shuffled their chairs back away from me, but I wasn't really paying attention because I was too busy thinking, _WHERE THE HECK DID THOSE CHAIRS COME FROM?!_

I must have looked ridiculous because Hestia was chuckling and the Hunter's looked amused.

I really wanted to ask my question, but I decided it was best to just ask the other million questions that were in my head at the same time, "Where did those chairs come from?! What do you mean you're a Goddess?! How were you in my head?! What were those things chasing me?! Why do they look so angry at me?! Why – "

"Percy!" Hestia said, abruptly cutting me off from my quickfire questioning before I could continue, then placed a hand on my shoulder that instantly calmed me down. "I know you have many questions but I believe an explanation for why you are here is needed."

I didn't want to tell them but I thought that it would be best if I just got it over with so they could explain what was happening. "Me and my mummy were talking in my apartment, then we heard my Smelly Gabe's footsteps coming from outside and my mummy told me to go to my room."

"Smelly Gabe?" the Hunter with brown hair asked.

"My stepdad. He's a really bad man, he's always drinking and smoking and taking my mummy's money for more drinks. And-and he'd hit me for no reason." I explained, the Hunter's looked appalled by what I told them. "So, when I went to my room I kept the door open so I could peak outside and then," I stopped talking and took a shaky breath "he-he started hitting my mum," I could feel tears pricking at my eyes again. Artemis and her Hunter's looked like they wanted to kill something while Hestia just looked sad. "Then he went to the kitchen and broke a-a bottle on her head and then she told me to run and then Gabe stabbed her with the bottle." Tears were freely trailing down my face again so I quickly wiped them away.

"Did anything else happen?" Hestia questioned me.

"What do you mean?"

"Did anything… unusual happen when all of this was happening?"

I didn't understand what she was trying to say but I remembered the pipes and the water moving on its own, "Yes, the water pipes in my apartment exploded and sent water everywhere but it never touched me and it didn't seem to like Smelly Gabe very much. How did the water do that? Why did it do that?"

She seemed to ponder this for a bit then asked me, "Have you heard of the Greek gods, Percy?"

"You mean like the ones in the movie Hercules?" Zoë scowled when I said that.

Hestia chuckled and said, "Yes, something like that movie. Although the real-life versions are a lot more different than the movie. But alas, those gods are very much alive. Like Artemis and I, we are both Greek goddesses so we have abilities that can allow us to do many things."

"Why are you telling me these things?" I asked them.

It was Artemis who answered this time, "You were being chased by a pack of hellhounds, the creatures that were following you. If you were mortal, they would have left you alone but they didn't, which can only mean one thing." She looked at me expectantly as if I knew what she was trying to say.

When I didn't say anything, Zoë spoke up, "It means that you are a half-blood. A child of the gods. Your mother is mortal but your father is a god. Which on though I am not entirely sure."

I just stared at them incredulously because my brain couldn't comprehend what it was they were trying to tell me. But somehow, I knew that what she was telling me was the truth because I could faintly remember a warm glow from when I was a little bit younger, maybe when I was about two-years-old.

"S-s-so, my dad's a-a god?" I asked still shocked about what I just learned. "If my dad's a god, then why couldn't he save my mum, if he's so powerful then why did he leave us, who is he?!" I asked getting louder with each word coming out. I was angry with my dad, he's supposed to be an all-powerful god but he couldn't even help my mum and now she's dead.

"Do not be angry with your father Percy," Hestia told me, "There are Ancient Laws that prevent gods from interacting with their children. Laws that if broken can have severe consequences. As for who he is, none of us can be sure unless he claims you, but I have an idea as who it might be."

Artemis raised an eyebrow at Hestia, "Who do you think it is?"

Hestia simply smiled and said, "He has his father's eyes."

Everyone's eyes widened when she said that, apparently, there's only one god that has the same color eyes as me.

"You can't mean ..." the girl with brown hair trailed off.

"But their oath!" Naomi exclaimed.

While the others just rolled their eyes, and muttered "Typical male." I decided it was best not to ask what they meant by that because they seemed to really not like boys for some reason.

"Wait, you know who my dad is?" I asked. But they just ignored me and kept talking.

"Are you sure it is him?" Artemis questioned Hestia.

"It would only make sense. He says that the water never touched him and that it seemed to attack his stepfather," Hestia explained, "But I cannot say for sure, it is only a wild guess for now."

"If it's true then he could be in great danger," Artemis said, I didn't really like the sound of possibly being in danger.

"Which brings me to another reason as to why I led him to you and your Hunter's," the Hunters looked intrigued by this, "Artemis, you have had in your males in your Hunt before have you not?"

Artemis nodded her head slowly and replied, "Yes, I have had males in my hunt before, are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting Auntie?"

Hestia shook her head and said, "I am not suggesting, I am asking, this could be an opportunity for you, he is still a young boy so he is still capable of learning. You can teach him to be the opposite of what you preach to your Hunters. I believe that your Hunters can also sympathize with him after what he has gone through."

Zoë seemed to understand what Hestia was saying and quickly stood from her seat, "Milady, you can't allow this, he is a male! He will just turn out like the rest of them!"

"Relax Zoë, weren't you listening to what Lady Hestia said?" Naomi argued, "We can teach him to not be like all those other disgusting pigs!"

"Yeah, he could be like the Hunt's little brother," the brown-haired girl agreed.

Hestia smiled at the two and turned to Artemis.

Artemis looked conflicted while I was very confused. They seemed to have an idea of who my dad is and if they think that my dad is this god that I could be in some sort of danger. Also, Hestia wants me to stay with the Hunter's who, for whatever reason, don't like boys very much and teach me to not be like other boys. I swear that my head is going to explode like an over inflated blowfish from all this.

Artemis sighed and cut off my train of thought, "Very well, I see your reasoning and the thought is also quite appealing." Hestia beamed at Artemis when she said this.

"Thank you, niece."

"But Milady-" the girl with blue eyes tried arguing but was quickly cut off by Artemis' stern glare.

"No Atalanta! My word is final." Zoë, Atalanta and the ginger haired girl decided to just glare at me while Naomi and the brown-haired girl looked excited.

"Hold on!" Everyone then turned to me and I suddenly had that urge that I should cross my legs again. I cleared my throat and asked them, "What exactly is going on?"

Hestia seemed to understand that I was utterly confused and explained to me that I would be staying with Artemis and her Hunter's where they would train and teach me, the Hunters are a group of immortal man-hating girls which is why they seem to not like me very much. I don't see why anything could go wrong with this idea.

Hestia suddenly started looking a little bit nervous, "I believe that I should explain my final reasoning for bringing him here," everyone including me perked up at this, "Percy I know this is all very sudden and you lost your mother not very long ago but, I'd like to adopt you as my own son," the Hunters looked like fish when Hestia said that and I'm pretty sure I did too, "I do not wish to replace your birth mother, it's just that I have never had children before and I'd like to see what it's like to be a mother."

I looked at Hestia and thought about what she was asking me. She was a stranger, someone I didn't know very well and she was asking if she could be my mum. I thought of the reasons of why I should accept, she guided me through a forest filled with monsters and led me to a place where I could be safe. Plus, she had this kind of aura that reminded me of my own mum and she was really nice. I thought of the reasons as to why I shouldn't accept her offer and I came up with nothing. I smiled at Hestia and said, "I'd really like that, mum."

Hestia beamed at me and gave me big hug that made me forget all about my worries, "Thank you Percy, I promise to be the best mother that I can be," she reassured me.

"And I promise to be the best son and brother that I can be," I reassured her back.

She pulled back from the hug still smiling. "Now there's just one thing I must do to make it official, _I Hestia, Goddess of the Hearth, Home and Family, give my blessing to Perseus Jackson and adopt him as my son."_ I realized that when she spoke the last part she said it in a different language and I understood completely. Suddenly, I felt a surge of power rush through me. It felt as if a warm fire just seeped into my veins and arteries and made me stronger, I even started to glow a faint orange but it all disappeared and I could only look in awe as I went through this strange phase.

"What was that?" I asked no one in particular.

"I have given you my blessing, which means that you now have a portion of my powers which include things such as, some control over fire and the ability to summon home cooked meals." Suddenly there was a loud growling sound and I nearly jumped out of my skin because I thought there was a hell hound close by again. The Hunters looked ready to kill where ever the beast was coming from.

I suddenly realized where the sound was coming from and blushed from embarrassment while I held my stomach. The Hunters seemed to realize what the sound was as well and burst into laughter. I joined them.

When the laughter died down Hestia said, "I take it you're hungry Percy," I just nodded because my face was still a bit red, "Then we can continue this later, I believe it is now lunch time, I will provide the food."

Artemis nodded her head and called out, "Phoebe, Celyn," the ginger and brown-haired girls quickly stood to attention, "gather the rest of the Hunters in the dining tent so we can tell them the news and get ready for lunch. Hestia special." The two bowed and walked out the tent to do what they were told.

I pulled the blankets off of myself and looked at my body. My clothes looked like they were mauled by a shark, but my skin had no signs of damage on them, _I don't think an all-girls group is going to have boys' clothes in my size_ I thought somberly. I carefully placed my hands on my torso but I didn't feel any pain. I looked at Hestia questioningly but she just smiled and said, "I will explain later." _Great._

I hopped out of the bed while Artemis and the remaining Hunters got up and led the way towards the dining tent. Hestia held my hand as we walked out the tent, I suddenly remembered that they never answered one of my questions. "Mum," I called, Hestia looked pleased that I called her that and looked at me, "Who's my dad?"

"Your father is Poseidon, god of the seas."

* * *

 **A/N That was a really long chapter, I hope you guys liked it. Just so you know, Zoe will not be speaking in old English because I don't have any idea where to write thee, thy and thou.** **I will post another chapter as soon as I have it finished and it should have a bit more action in it then this chapter. So as always, please review what you think and if you really like it Follow and Favorite.**

 **Goodbye me Greek geeks**


	4. I'm cursed

**Percy Jackson Son of Hearth and Sea: The Lightning Thief**

 **A/N Hello fellow fanfic readers. I have another wonderful chapter for you. I am feeling a whole lot better now. This chapter will contain a whole lot of time skips because I'm not going to write 7 whole years of Percy's life. I really hope you enjoy this chapter, review what you think about it and if you really like it Follow and Favorite.**

 _ **Slap!**_

 **Artemis: Get on with it you stupid male I want to know if I turn anyone into Jackalopes.**

 **Me: When did-**

 _ **Slap!**_

 **Artemis: Would you like me to turn you into a Jackalope?!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own PJO Rick Riordan does.**

* * *

 **Chapter 4:**

 **1 Month Later:**

It turns out that they do have boys' clothes in my size. I'll let you figure out what color they were.

So, my time with the Hunt wasn't that great, only a few Hunters were actually nice to me, like Naomi, daughter of Hecate goddess of magic and Celyn, a daughter of Demeter, goddess of agriculture, as well as another Hunter called Tracy, who is a daughter of Hermes, god of messengers and a whole lot of other things.

Those Hunters were the ones that trained me with weapons and taught me how to read and write, they also taught me the basics of Greek mythology and the different monsters along with my mum. They also told me the things that they hate about males and what I shouldn't do if I wanted to be a 'decent male'. When I first tried using a bow, I failed before I could even notch the arrow. I still have made almost no progress with it but I'm doing the best I can. I'm okay with hunting knives but they don't feel right in my hands. They told me that I was trying to use the knives as swords.

So, then they took me to the armory and had me try out swords but none of them were balanced in my hand properly. I decided to use a sword that felt the most balanced in my hands. When I started using the sword it turned out that I was a natural and they seemed to be wondering what I could do with a balanced sword.

I practiced my water powers by nearby river sources. Turns out that I can breathe underwater and I can't get wet either. I learned that when some Hunters tried pranking me by dumping me in a lake. It didn't really go their way.

The Hunters that didn't like me very much usually played pranks on me. That included things such as snare traps and pitfalls as well as having wild animals chase me.

Lady Artemis sometimes helped me with my archery training but other times she simply observed me.

Mum told me not to get upset over these and to take it as a challenge instead. So that's what I did, when I'd get caught in a snare trap I'd try to cut the rope as fast as I could before it could pull me all the way up, or if I'd fall down a large hole I'd try to catch myself before I could fall all the way down to the bottom and the animals were a test of speed and endurance. Mum has also been teaching me how to use my powers that she gave to me, it was a lot more exhausting then using my water powers but it was totally worth it when I could create fireballs in the palm of my hands. Basically, she's the coolest mum ever.

 **4 Months Later:**

I am now six-years-old and more Hunters are starting to warm up to me being in the Hunt, even Lady Artemis is beginning to like me and she's supposed to be the biggest man-hater in the world. There's only several Hunters that don't like me and they are Zoë, Phoebe daughter of Ares, Atalanta daughter of Apollo and Diana a mortal. It's probably because they are some of the oldest Hunters who have been with Lady Artemis for millennia.

My skill with a bow hasn't really improved that much but I'm getting a lot closer to the target. At least I'm not shooting ten meters in the wrong direction. I'm only off by about five meters now. My water and fire powers have now greatly improved

Right now, we are on a hunt for some monsters that have been living in some mountains. We were all moving as quietly as we could when suddenly, howls sounded from all around us and the monsters we were hunting all charged at us. The Hunters started firing arrows at the monsters killing them with quick ease.

I then noticed a cyclops headed straight for Phoebe who was facing the other way, I couldn't warn her because there was no time so I notched an arrow took aim and let it fly.

The arrow sailed through the air until it came in contact with some rocks that were holding up a large boulder. Phoebe turned to face the Cyclops only a few meters away and no time to notch another arrow, before the cyclops could reach her the boulder crashed down on top of the cyclops making it explode into gold dust. Phoebe just stared at where the cyclops was then turned to look at who it was that shot the arrow. I was still standing in the same position from when I fired my arrow.

Phoebe looked at me disbelievingly, "Did-did you just?" She didn't have to finish what she was saying for me to understand what she was trying to say.

I just rubbed the back of my neck and smiled sheepishly. I just noticed that the other monsters were already taken care of and everyone was staring at me incredulously.

I turned my attention back to a still shocked Phoebe and she said, "You-you saved my life," then for the first time since I've been in the hunt she smiled at me and then rushed me and embraced me in a bone crushing hug while laughing jovially and spinning me in the air. "That was amazing Percy! Looks like you're getting better with a bow after all," she complimented me.

I once again rubbed the back of my neck and smiled sheepishly, "I was actually aiming for the cyclops," I told her. She just laughed harder at that. The rest of the Hunters came up to me and started congratulating me while I just blushed from all the praise I was getting. Only Zoë and Lady Artemis didn't come up, but I didn't really mind I was just happy that they were starting to like me.

 **6 Months Later:**

Over the year, I managed to learn about the history of some of the Hunters and why they chose to be an immortal Hunter. They all had such tragic stories that I couldn't help but cry for them. The stories were all horrible and my respect for Lady Artemis increased and my bonds with the Hunters strengthened. Zoë was the only one that didn't like me, whenever I would try to talk to her she'd just give me the cold shoulder and walk away, or glare at me and walk away, or sometimes both. I don't know what happened that made her hate males so much but it must have been pretty bad.

Anyways, you might be thinking that, now that it's been so long, I must be an expert at archery. That's the most ridiculous thing you could possibly say. All the Hunters including Lady Artemis are baffled because I have the proper stance done to perfection but the arrow refuses to hit the target. We tried changing the bows and arrows but they still went off target.

Several days after when I tried, keyword tried, to hit the target with Lady Artemis watching me, she burst into laughter. Everyone stared at her like she told us that the world was going to end and there was nothing we could do about it.

After several mind-blowing seconds Zoë finally asked, "Milady, what is so funny?"

Lady Artemis just laughed harder, "I- I, rem-rem-remember, w-why, P-P-Perseus, c-can-n't shoot!" She exclaimed through bits of laughter. Tears were now streaming down her face now. Eventually, she managed to calm herself down a bit but let out a few chuckles. "After I learned the horrible things that Orion did, I cursed that no Son of Poseidon will ever be able to shoot a bow again. It happened so long ago I completely forgot about it."

I just stared at my surrogate sister incredulously because for almost a year, I couldn't hit a target at all and now she tells me that I'm cursed. _Hehe, that's actually kind of funny._ "Can you get rid of the curse Milady?" I asked.

Artemis finally managed to control herself and nodded her head at me, "Yes, it's a fairly simple way of getting rid of the curse," she then raised her right hand with her palm facing me and said in Ancient Greek, _"I Artemis, Goddess of the Moon, Hunt and Archery, release Perseus Jackson from his curse,"_ When she finished I suddenly felt like something heavy was lifted from my shoulders.

To test that it actually worked I notched an arrow got into position and fired. The arrow landed inches away from a bullseye. I just looked at the arrow for a few seconds, then at my bow, then my hands, then the arrow again I repeated this process a couple more times not really believing what I just did.

My brain was having a really hard time believing that I just did this and told me, _shoot again._ So, I did, once again, only inches from a bullseye. So, I fired again and again and again, each shot hitting just off from a bullseye and with each shot, my smile got bigger and bigger. Then I started to laugh, a laugh filled with relief and joy. I started whooping and fist bumping the air and doing a little happy dance from finally being able to hit the target.

When I turned around, I was faced with the Hunters all looking at me pretty amused. I just smiled sheepishly at them. Then they all started to crowd around me and congratulate me. Lady Artemis gave me a small smile of approval from where she was standing and mum was looking at me with pride and adoration in her eyes. Of course, Zoë just looked at me with no emotion, but I'm not going to let that ruin my happy mood.

 **6 Months Later:**

We were once again on another hunt, looking for a group of monsters that were chasing some demigods. As we were running I could hear the sound of people yelling. Some of us including me quickly scaled up some trees to provide support from higher ground. We jumped from tree to tree and I felt like a bad ass wearing my silver hoodie while holding onto my bow. It made me feel like a character from some show I used to watch, I think his name was Green Arrow, so I guess that makes me Silver Arrow.

I mentally slapped myself before my thoughts could get any further, _Stupid ADHD,_ I mentally berated myself. Apparently, ADHD is common in demigods which means our thoughts occasionally run wild and is also a reason for our quick reflexes as well as why we can never seem to sit still for long, I mentally slapped myself again, _stupid brain! Pay attention!_

We quickly reached the source of the yelling to find three demigods in a small clearing. The first demigod was a boy who looked to be about fourteen with sandy blonde hair and blue eyes that looked like they once held a lot of mischief. In his hand was a simple celestial bronze xiphos.

The second demigod was a girl around twelve years old. She had black spiky hair and blue eyes, like the boys', but were a darker shade kind of like lightning. She was carrying a spear in the hand closest to me and a shield in the other.

The last demigod was probably around my age, and she was also a girl, she had honey blonde hair that were curled, it made her look like a princess. Her eyes were the most intriguing thing about her though, they were a stormy gray color that looked like they were analysing everything. _She's kind of cute,_ my all-so-helpful brain told me. I blushed at my own thoughts but quickly composed myself. I could see a small celestial bronze dagger in her hand.

When I finished my quick once-over on the demigods the monsters charged out of the woods on the other side of the clearing and charged the demigods. The demigods obviously weren't prepared for the attack because they simply stood there but before the monsters could reach them we fired our arrows into the monsters. In a matter of seconds they were nothing but dust around the clearing.

Lady Artemis and her Hunters moved into the clearing to exchange words with the demigods. I stayed in my spot in the tree because it would be strange to see a boy in a group of man-hating girls and it would be better if they simply didn't know that I existed, it would save a whole lot of trouble. The Hunters started setting up camp in the clearing and, Lady Artemis, Zoë and the two girls walked, into Lady Artemis' tent. I realised that she was going to recruit them into the Hunt.

Just before they walked in the girl with gray eyes looked in my direction. I quickly hid deeper into the trees leaves hoping she didn't see me. A few minutes later both girls walked out of Artemis' tent but neither had a silver glow to them which I guess means they didn't accept her offer. The gray-eyed girl started looking around the clearing and I realised she was probably looking for me. I hid again in the leaves of the tree and she seemed to be confused but just shrugged it off.

I almost sighed in relief but held it in. The girl with blue eyes glared at Zoë but Zoë just glared back at her. I'm not sure whose glare was scarier. The boy who was waiting anxiously outside also looked relieved and hugged them tightly. Atalanta and Tracy then walked up to the trio and gave them each a flask of nectar and a bag of ambrosia. Although they refused to give it to the boy and the spiky-haired girl refused to take anything from them so the gray eyed girl took everything and handed it to the others.

After some more talking and glares being thrown the trio walked out of the clearing and in a direction that was given to them. I wondered if I would ever see them again and also where they were heading.

Once they were far enough away I scaled down the tree and headed towards Lady Artemis. "Milady," I addressed her, "what happened?"

"I offered the girls a place in the Hunt", she explained to me, "but neither were quite willing to leave the boy."

I nodded my head and asked, "why don't you just bring him in to the Hunt like you did with me?"

Artemis sighed and said, "it's much more complicated than that, the boy is a lot older so it would not be like when we brought you in."

I nodded my head and asked her another question, "What were there names?"

Artemis raised an eyebrow at this and asked me, "Why do you wish to know?"

I shrugged my shoulders and said, "Just curious Milady."

She nodded then said, "The older girl is Thalia and the younger one is Annabeth Chase, the boy is Luke Castellan, son of Hermes."

I decided to ask one last question as to not bother her unless I want to become a jackalope. "Where are they going?"

"Camp Half-Blood, a demigod safe haven."

 **2 Years Later:**

The Hunt is really starting to feel like a home now, I have awesome big sisters who look after me and teach me new things and the best mum anyone could ask for. My powers are now really well developed and I'm learning sword fighting a lot faster than fighting with knives and definitely faster than archery.

There's only one thing that hasn't changed and that's Zoë. Even after five years in the Hunt she still doesn't seem to accept me. It's actually starting to annoy me but I'm not sure what I can do to get her to like me.

I was practicing my sword fighting on some straw dummies while Zoë was practicing her archery. Suddenly Lady Artemis called for us both. "Zoë! Percy!" We quickly made our way towards her to see what she needed from us. "I need you to Hunt some game for dinner tonight."

Zoë bowed and said, "I'll go and ask one of my sisters to accompany me."

She was about to turn and leave but Artemis quickly stopped her, "No! Both of you will go alone,"

She told us sternly. "This can be Percy's first solo Hunt but I need you to watch over him."

Zoë looked like she wanted to argue but just sighed and said, "As you wish Milady." She bowed and walked away to her tent.

Artemis looked sadly at her lieutenant then turned to me, "There are several deer just west of our position, I need you to bring just one for your first Hunt to be completed."

I bowed to her and said, "Right away Milady." I walked over to my own tent and quickly got myself ready. Once I was finished I walked over to Zoë's tent and knocked on the pole. "Hey Zoë, you ready?" I called out.

I heard her muttering something about impatient males and then she stormed right out of her tent and bumped straight into me. I wasn't ready for the sudden shove which caused me to instinctively try and grab onto something so I could balance myself. Unfortunately the only thing I could grab was Zoë and she was already falling down with me.

"Oomph!" I exclaimed when I hit the ground with Zoë on top of me. I looked at her and realised our faces were only inches away from each other. I just stared into her volcanic ash coloured eyes while she stared into my sea green ones. I'm not sure how long we stayed like that but we stopped staring when we heard someone cleared their throat. We both looked up to see Lady Artemis standing there with her hands on her hips and an eyebrow raised at us.

Zoë quickly got off of me and I stood up as well and we were both red in the face, although I wasn't sure if it was from anger or embarrassment with Zoë, "We didn't do anything!" I blurted out,

Artemis just gave a tiny smile and replied sarcastically," Nooo, you were just gazing into each other's eyes for five minutes."

My eyes widened when she said that, _we were there for that long?_

I then remembered that we were supposed to be hunting so I quickly grabbed Zoë by the hand and pulled her in a random direction. "West is the other way Percy!" Artemis called out to me, I smiled sheepishly at her and walked back in the other direction and into the woods.

After several minutes of walking I realised I was still handing Zoë's hand so I quickly let go and cooled off my red heated face. A few awkward minutes passed so I tried making some conversation with her. "Nice weather we're having." I started.

"It's cloudy," she answered simply. I looked up and realised that the clouds were in fact covering the sky. "Oh, well at least it's not raining," I tried again but of course the Fates decided to mess with me, because it started pouring all of a sudden. Zoë glared at me and walked under the cover of a tree. I went over to her and studied her for a little bit. "Why do you hate me?" I asked her.

Zoë looked startled I asked her that and looked at me skeptically, "Why does it matter?"

I sighed and said "Look Zoë, whatever it is I've done, I'm sorry, I don't know if I I did something to offend you but I'm really sorry."

Zoë rubbed her face with one and held up her other hand to signal me to stop talking, "You haven't done anything wrong."

"Then why do you hate me?!" I exclaimed.

"For that reason, you haven't done anything wrong and that irks me to no end. For millennia I have believed all men to be selfish, greedy, proud and arrogant, but you are none of those things and it annoys me." Zoë then sat down and leaned on the trunk of the tree, "In the end I never hated you, I just hated that one person can be everything that's good and have none of the bad things."

I sat down on the ground with her and thought over what she told me. When she said she didn't hate me I was elated because it means that I can actually try and be friends with her. I smiled at the sort of compliments she gave me, "So, does this mean we can start over and try to be friends with each other?" I asked her.

She sighed again then looked at me and said, "Why not?" She then held out her hand for me to shake and said, "Hi, I'm Zoë Nightshade."

I shook her hand and said, "Nice to meet you Zoë, I'm Perseus Jackson but everyone calls me Percy."

"That's nice, but I'll just call you Flame Brain," she said a small smile tugging at her lips.

"Flame Brain?!" I asked incredulously. I didn't realise when I said that my hair suddenly caught fire.

Zoë burst out laughing when she saw that, this is the first time I've heard her laugh and it was almost angelic the way it sounded. I just grumbled about annoying man-hating Hunters. "Yeah, yeah laugh it up Princess."

Zoë instantly stopped laughing and now our position were reversed.

Soon, we were both laughing as we waited for the rain to stop.

 **2 Years Later:**

After me and Zoë finally were able to put aside our bad blood we became friends real fast and soon we became best friends and we were almost inseparable. The Hunters were shocked when they saw us laughing and joking when we finished with our Hunt, I'll admit it now that I think I might have a crush on Zoë, but I'd never say that out loud because one, she's a Hunter who has sworn off romantic love FOREVER and two, that would be embarrassing. Plus I could live with that, it's only a small crush.

Anyways, I have improved significantly in all my abilities, especially now that Zoë is teaching me because she's a lot more experienced then a lot of the other Hunters who were teaching me but none of them could teach me anymore school stuff, which I was glad about and because they haven't been to any modern schools.

Me and Zoë were sparring when I heard my mum call me. "Percy!" I dispatched from the fight and went over to see what it was she needed. She looked sad about whatever it was that she was about to tell me.

"What is it mum?" I asked her.

Then she said the six most dreaded words that I've ever heard in my life and will probably give me nightmares, "You need to go to school."

* * *

 **A/N Muahahaha! It feels so good to be able to hold all this power in my hands. I just want you all to know that this story will be filled with cliffhangers *grins evilly* Anyways, I really hope that you enjoyed this chapter, it is the longest chapter so far but it was the easiest to write, and please review what you think about it and if you really liked it then Follow and Favourite. That's all for now.**

 **Goodbye my Greek geeks**


	5. My demonic math teacher

**Percy Jackson Son of Hearth and Sea: The Lightning Thief**

 **A/N Hello my fellow fanfic fanatics. (hehe alliteration) I have a new chapter for all of you to read. It has officially started; the beginning of The Lightning Thief is here and I'll admit that this chapter was a lot harder to write then my previous chapters. Just letting you know that some of this chapter will be canon. In other news, I will do my best to post one chapter each day, it won't be same time as this chapter came out, I will try to post around 10:30 pm Australian Western Standard Time which is the time my next chapter will be posted and hopefully the chapters after that. I don't know if I'll be able to keep up with it but like I said I'll do my best. I want to thank everyone who has been reading my stories and the people who have Followed and Favorited this story, it means a lot to me.**

 **Now I'll stop wasting your time with my useless blabbering, as usual, I hope you enjoy this chapter, please leave a Review and let me know what you think and if you really like it Follow and Favorite.**

 **Reviews:**

 **SuitedClown: No, it won't ruin the story that is literally common knowledge**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own PJO because I'm not Rick Riordan and that makes me really sad.**

* * *

 **Chapter 5:**

I trusted her. I let her teach me, train me, comfort me when I needed someone, and then she betrays me, by sending me to SCHOOL?!

My mum is so mean.

I'm not sure what she did but she managed manipulate the mist and convince a school in New York to take me in. The school's name is Yancy Academy. Apparently, I'm a troubled child that has been expelled from six schools in six years. I guess this was her getting me back for that time I pulled a prank on her by putting super glue on her chair.

I definitely learned my lesson. Ha-ha get it, I'm going to school and I'll be learning things and yeah, I'll shut up now.

Anyways, I was pretty upset that I had to leave the Hunt, even though we would probably see each other again and I could still Iris-message them, because for seven years they have been my family. We have been through heaps and they helped me get past it all and helping me be the guy I am today. I was going to miss pulling pranks on people with Tracy the daughter of Hermes. I was going to miss the Hunts we'd go on and me looking like a bad ass with my silver hoodie. I was especially going to miss Zoë, we only talked for two years but we managed to become best friends in those two years and I was a lot closer with her than any of the other Hunters. I was going to miss a lot about Zoë, our constant bickering, our nick-naming, the way she'd talk in old English whenever she'd get mad, her laugh, her- _Whoa there Percy, she's a Hunter, Artemis' lieutenant, it's not going to happen in any universe,_ I told myself somberly.

I was currently in my tent thinking about the past seven years of my life and how much I'd changed from when they first found me. I turned from a small wimpy innocent boy, to a slightly taller, tree jumping, forest running, monster killing bad ass.

I have managed to gain some muscle from my time in the Hunt. I'm not ripped with muscles because that would look horrible on a five foot two inch twelve-year-old boy.

I left my tent when I felt my mum's presence enter the camp. I collapsed my tent and said my, "goodbyes" and, "see you laters" to the Hunters and they told me, "good luck in school" I blushed furiously when Zoë gave me a hug.

Before I left Artemis came toward me, "Percy, you have made quite the impact on me and my Hunters. I don't think they have ever had as much fun as these past seven years." I blushed at her compliments. "We have taught you everything we know and now it's up to you to use it and improve your skills and knowledge. I do not know what your future has in store for you, especially since you are a son of Poseidon but it won't be easy. Just know that you will not be alone through any of it." I nodded my understanding, because I remember learning about the Big Three pact. Apparently, after World War II ended the Big Three, Zeus, Poseidon and Hades swore on the river Styx to never have demigod children again because we always turned out to be incredibly powerful and causing heaps of destruction. Like World War II. It was basically Zeus and Poseidon on the winning team and Hades on the losing team. But I was born, which means that Poseidon broke his oath and I was going to pay the consequences because my dad is an Olympian god and Styx can't exactly punish him.

I bowed to her, "Thank you Lady Artemis."

I was about to walk over to my mum to leave for school when I heard Tracy's voice, "WAIT!" Everyone looked at her curiously. She then pulled something out from her magic pouch that she carries everywhere, apparently it was a gift from her dad. I couldn't really see what it was but she then pulled out a tripod from her magic pouch. "You're not going anywhere without taking a picture with us!"

"Tracy, where did you get that camera?" Lady Artemis asked skeptically.

Tracy just grinned mischievously and answered, "That's for me to know and you to find out."

"And I will find out."

We all took our picture and Lady Artemis made several copies for each of us to keep.

I went over to my mum who was smiling warmly at all of us. I was finally ready to start for the new life I was about to start, I looked over all the Hunters one last time and set my gaze on Zoë, I gave her my famous lopsided grin and mum put a hand on my shoulder. In a flash of flames, we disappeared from the camp and the last thing I saw was Zoë looking at me with an emotion I couldn't really identify.

* * *

I don't know what possessed my mum to enroll me here but I now know that she's totally getting me back for that prank, or maybe she's just crazy. Who knows?

Why, you may ask? Well...

Twenty-eight delinquent students, two chaperone teachers and a field trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to look at Ancient Greek and Roman things, with one of the teachers being the cool Latin teacher who will wear Roman armor and brandish a bronze xiphos sword during class shouting, "What ho!" and the other teacher being someone who absolutely hated my very existence the moment she saw me and would say "Now, honey" really sweet and I would get in trouble for whatever reason.

I didn't find anything suspicious about this at all.

My Latin teacher, Mr. Brunner, is a middle-aged man in a motorized wheel chair. He had thinning hair and a scruffy beard and a frayed tweed jacket that always smelled like coffee. You, wouldn't think he was cool from a just looking at him, but he would tell us stories and jokes and let us play games in class. I wasn't kidding about the armor and weapons either.

I was determined to be on my best behavior so I didn't have to suffer through more of Mrs. Dodds

We weren't even at the museum yet and I was already trying my hardest not to explode at Nancy Bobofit, a freckly, redheaded kleptomaniac girl, who was throwing pieces of her peanut butter-and-ketchup sandwich at my best friend in school Grover Underwood and getting it stuck in his curly brown hair.

Grover was bullied a lot at school. Mainly because there was a lot to bully about him. He was scrawny. He cried when he got frustrated. He looks like he's been held back several grades, because he was the only sixth grader with acne and the start of a wispy beard on his chin. To top it all off, he was crippled. He had a note excusing him from PE for the rest of his life because he had some kind of muscular disease in his legs. He had a funny walk, like every step hurt him, but it's hard to believe sometimes, because on enchilada day at the cafeteria, he could give Usain Bolt a run for his money. I was constantly keeping bullies off his back, but I didn't mind Grover was cool to hang out with.

Anyway, Nancy was throwing wads of sandwich at him and she knew I couldn't do anything because I was already on probation. The headmaster said that if anything bad, embarrassing or even mildly entertaining happened on this trip he would give me an in-school suspension.

"I'm going to kill her," I mumbled.

Grover tried to calm me down. "It's ok. I like peanut butter." He dodged another piece of Nancy's lunch.

"That's it." I started to get up, but Grover pulled me back down.

"You're already on probation," he reminded me. "You know who'll get the blame if anything happens." I knew he was right, but it didn't mean I had to like it, but the Hunters drilled it into my mind that I should never harm a girl and that I should never harm mortals because they weren't a part of the godly world so we tended to ignore them, unless they somehow got themselves involved in our world then we dealt with them.

Mr. Brunner led the museum tour. He rode up front in his wheelchair, guiding us through the echoey galleries, past marble statues and glass cases full of really old black-and-orange pottery.

I learnt a lot about this stuff from mum and the Hunters but it was a lot different to actually see it with my own eyes.

He then gathered us around a thirteen-foot-tall stone column with a big sphinx on the top, and started telling us how it was a grave-marker, a stele, for a girl our age. I was trying to listen to what he had to say because it was kind of interesting, but everyone around me was talking, and every time I told them to shut up, the other chaperone I mentioned, Mrs. Dodds, would give me the evil eye.

Mrs. Dodds was a little teacher from Georgia who always wore a black leather jacket even though she looked one hundred years old. She looked mean enough to drive a Harley or maybe even a truck straight into your locker for misbehaving, I wouldn't be surprised if she did. She came to Yancy halfway through the year when our last teacher had a nervous breakdown. And to make things worse she's my math teacher.

I once told Grover that I didn't think she was human. He just looked at me real serious and said, "You're absolutely right." When he didn't laugh, I wasn't sure whether to believe him or not.

Mr. Brunner kept talking about the Greek funeral art.

Finally, Nancy snickered something about the naked guy on the stele, and I turned around and said, "Will you shut up?"

It came out a lot louder than it was meant to. Everyone laughed and Mr. Brunner stopped his story.

"Mr. Jackson," he said, "did you have a comment?"

My face was totally red, but I thought I'd get a little revenge on Nancy, "No sir, Nancy did."

He raised an eyebrow at that, "Oh, and would you like to repeat that with the rest of us Ms. Bobofit?" He asked her.

She blushed and said, "No sir." I grinned triumphantly.

"Very well then," he pointed to one of the pictures on the stele, "Mr. Jackson, can you tell us what this picture represents?"

I looked at the carving and my grin widened because I recognized it. "That's Kronos eating his kids, right?"

"Yes," he said obviously not satisfied with this answer. "And he did this because…"

"Kronos was the titan king," I started. "And he was paranoid that his kids, the gods, Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades and Poseidon in that order, would try and steal his throne. So, to prevent them from doing that he ate them, except the youngest, Zeus, because his wife, Rhea, hid him and gave him a rock to eat instead. Then when Zeus grew up, he disguised himself as Kronos' servant so that he could trick Kronos and pour him a poison that would make Kronos barf the rest of Zeus' brothers and sisters-"

"Eew!" said one of the girls said behind me, but I didn't pay attention because I was on a role.

"-and then the two sides, titans and gods, fell into a war, known as the Titanomachy, which the gods won by cutting their father up into pieces with his scythe."

Everyone was silent, listening to what I was saying and Mr. Brunner looked impressed.

Behind me I heard Nancy mumbling to one of her friends, "like we're going to use this in real life. Like it's going to say on our job applications, 'Please explain why Kronos ate his kids'"

"And why. Mr. Jackson," said Mr. Brunner, "to paraphrase Miss Bobofit's excellent question, does this matter in real life?"

"Busted." Grover muttered.

"Shut up." Nancy hissed, her face brighter than her red hair.

I once again, grinned triumphantly. Mr. Brunner was the only teacher who ever caught her saying anything wrong. He had radar ears.

I thought about his question, I knew why it was important in my life. I was a demigod, so of course I had to know these things, but they didn't, they were mortals who had no clue of what was actually happening in the world. So I just shrugged and said, "I don't know sir. Maybe it can be used as a life lesson, don't eat your kids or it'll come back to bite you in the butt," I half lied, some people snickered, then with a grin I added, "and not just metaphorically speaking."

Everyone burst into laughter.

Mr. Brunner looked half amused and half disappointed with my answer. "Very good Mr. Jackson, yes, Zeus did indeed feed his father a combination of wine and mustard, which made him disgorge his five other children, who, of course being immortal gods, had been living and growing up completely undigested in the Titan's stomach. The gods defeated their father, sliced him to pieces with his own scythe and scattered his remains in Tartarus the darkest and most evil place in the underworld, where souls with the most evil of lives would go to be eternally tortured. And on that happy note, it's time for lunch. Mrs. Dodds, would you please lead the way outside?" _Such a happy note,_ I mused.

The class drifted off. The girls holding their stomachs, the guys pushing each other around and as the Hunters would put it, 'being typical males'.

Grover and I were about to follow when Mr. Brunner called, "Mr. Jackson!"

I knew what was coming.

I told Grover to keep going. Then I turned toward Mr. Brunner. "Sir?"

Mr. Brunner had this look that wouldn't let you go. Intense brown eyes that could have been thousands of years old and had seen everything.

"You must learn the answer to my question," Mr. Brunner told me.

"Which one?"

"The one about real life. And how your studies apply to it."

"Oh."

"What you learn from me," he said, "is vitally important. I expect you treat it as such. I will only accept the best from you, Percy Jackson."

I was feeling a few different emotions from what he said. I was confused because I wasn't sure whether he knew something or not. I was panicking because I thought he might know that I'm a demigod. It couldn't have been possible because I hardly used my powers the whole year and whenever I did I was extremely thorough in making sure that nobody was around. I thought he might be a monster because apparently demigods have a certain smell that attracts monsters, and I left my weapons in my dorm, but there was no way Mr. Brunner was in anyway a monster. And I was mad at the last thing he said. All he ever did was push me.

I mean, sure it was cool on tournament days, when he dressed up in a suit of Roman armor shouted: "What ho!" And challenged us, sword against chalk, to run and name every Greek and Roman person that lived, and their mother, and what god they worshiped. I may be exaggerating a little. But Mr. Brunner expected me to be better than everybody else. Despite the fact that I have dyslexia and ADHD. Sure it was easy with the Hunters, but I learned them in Ancient Greek, it's a whole lot different to do in English.

I mumbled something about trying harder, while Mr. Brunner took a long sad look at the stele, like he'd been to the girls funeral.

He told me to go outside and eat my lunch. The class was gathered on the front steps of the museum, where we could watch the foot traffic along Fifth Avenue.

Overhead, a large storm was brewing, with clouds blacker than I'd ever seen. _Someone's grumpy,_ I mused. The weather had been crazy ever since Christmas. There have been snowstorms, flooding, wildfires from lightning strikes. I wouldn't be surprised if it was Zeus having a hissy fit.

Nobody else seemed to notice. The guys were pelting pigeons with Lunhables crackers. Nancy was trying to pickpocket something from an old lady's purse, and, of course, Mrs Dodds wasn't seeing any of it because Nancy Bobofit was the sweetest little angel.

Grover and I sat at the edge of the fountain, away from the others. We thought that maybe if we did that, nobody would know we were from that school.

"Detention?" Grover asked.

"Nah," I said. "Not from Mr. Brunner, just some life advice. Although, I wish he'd lay off me sometimes."

Grover didn't say anything for a while. Then, when I thought he was going to come up with some philosophical comment that might make me feel better, he said, "Can I have your apple?"

I didn't have much of an appetite, so I let him have it.

I watched the stream of cabs going down Fifth Avenue, then I looked towards the apartment buildings and I remembered the apartment me and my mum stayed in, apartment number 408. I'm not sure how I could still remember that but I guess it's one of those things that you don't forget. The place wasn't too far from here and I started wondering what happened after I left the apartment? Did the police find out about her murder? Did Smelly Gabe get caught? Was I reported missing? Things like that.

Mr. Brunner parked his wheelchair at the base of the handicapped ramp. He ate celery while reading a paperback novel. Something about a Peter Johnson and the Lightning Thief. A red umbrella stuck up from the back of his chair, making it look like a motorised cafe table.

I was about to unwrap my sandwich when Nancy appeared in front of me with her ugly friends - I guess she got tired of stealing from tourists - and dumped her half eaten sandwich in Grover's lap.

"Oops." She grinned at me with her crooked teeth. Her freckles were orange, as if someone had spray painted her face with Cheetos.

I tried to stay as calm as possible. Mum would always tell me, "Close your eyes and count to ten." But I was so mad my mind went blank. A wave roared in my ears. Too late did I realize what I did.

When I opened my eyes Nancy was sitting on her butt in the fountain screaming "Percy pushed me!"

Mrs. Dodds seemed to materialise next to us.

Some of the kids were whispering: "Did you see-"

"-the water-"

"-like it grabbed her-"

I knew what they were talking about, I had used my water powers to subconsciously pull her into the fountain. And I was most definitely in big trouble.

As soon as Mrs. Dodds was sure that sweet little Nancy was okay, promising to get her a new shirt at the museum gift shop, etc., etc., Mrs. Dodds turned on me. There was a triumphant fire in her eyes, as if I'd done something she had been waiting all semester for. I was really hoping she was what I think she was.

"Now honey-"

"I know," I interrupted, praying that she really wasn't a monster, "a month erasing textbooks."

That was the wrong thing to say.

"Come with me." Mrs. Dodds instructed.

"Wait!" Grover yelped. "It was me. I pushed her."

I stared at him stunned. He was trying to cover for me even when Mrs. Dodds scared him half to death.

She glared at him so hard his whiskery chin trembled.

"I don't think so Mr. Underwood." She said

"But-"

"You - will - stay - here."

Grover looked at me pleadingly. I was happy that I had a best friend like him, but if Mrs. Dodds really was a monster I couldn't get him involved. He was still a mortal.

"It's okay G-man," I told him. "Thanks for trying."

"Honey," Mrs. Dodds barked at me. "Now."

Nancy smirked at me and I gave her my best death glare. I was very satisfied when I saw her shiver in fear.

I turned to face Mrs. Dodds but she wasn't there anymore. She was at the top of the stairs. I was hoping that it was just my ADHD acting up.

I went after her.

Halfway up the stairs, I turned back to look at Grover and he was looking very pale. He was flitting his eyes between me and Mr. Brunner like he wanted him to see what was happening but he was absorbed into his novel, plus I wasn't sure what a crippled man could to help me right now.

I looked back up but she wasn't there, she was now inside and at the entrance hall. I was once again hoping that she would just get me to buy Nancy a new shirt from the gift shop.

My hopes were crushed when we continued walking past it and further into the museum. When I finally caught up to her, we were back in the Greek and Roman section.

Mrs. Dodds stood, with her arms crossed about fifteen feet away from me, in front of a big marble frieze of the Greek gods. She was making a noise in her throat that sounded like growling.

I knew for a fact that she was a monster now, especially with the way she was staring at the frieze. Like she wanted to smash her Harley into it.

"You've been giving us problems, honey," she said

My nervousness was now diminishing and being replaced by confusion.

She tugged on the cuffs of her leather jacket. "Did you really think you would get away with it?"

Now all my nervousness was gone and I was left confused as all Hades. Was she talking about something that I did in school?

I was proven wrong when I saw the evil look in her eyes.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I said with all the truth that I could, because I had no idea what was going on.

"We are not fools, Percy Jackson," she said. "It was only a matter of time before we found you out. Confess and you shall suffer less pain."

My confusion levels were getting higher and higher. I just stared at her incredulously because I had less than no ideas of what she wanted to confess.

"Well," she demanded.

"Confess to-"

"Your time is up," she hissed. Then it happened. In seconds, her eyes began to glow like burning coal, her fingers stretched into talons and her leather jacket melted into leathery wings. My heart started to beat rapidly at my chest, she really was a monster, and she was one of the worst monsters of all. She was a Fury.

Then suddenly Mr. Brunner, who was just outside the front of a museum a minute before, was wheeling his chair into the doorway of the gallery holding a pen in his hand.

"What ho, Percy!" He shouted, then threw the pen in my direction. I had enough time to think, _What the Hades Mr. Brunner! A pen?!_

With zero options and the Fury only several feet away from me, I let my training kick in. I caught the pen in my hand, but it wasn't a pen anymore, it was a sword, a Celestial Bronze xiphos sword, the same sword that Mr. Brunner always used on tournament days. By the time I caught the sword, Mrs. Dodds, the furious Fury, was within reach of me, so I spun out of the way her attack and slashed her with the sword. With a screech she exploded into familiar gold dust all monsters turn into when they die. My heart was pounding in my chest, I closed my eyes still clutching the sword and tried to calm myself.

When I opened my eyes, there was no gold dust on the floor, Mr. Brunner was nowhere to be seen and I wasn't holding anything in my hand anymore.

I was starting to believe that I had just imagined the whole thing. I may have faced some minor monsters before but they're nothing compared to a Fury, a servant of Hades himself.

I went outside to find it raining. Grover was still sitting by the fountain, a museum map tented over his head. Nancy was still soaking from her dip in the pool grumbling to her friends. When she saw me, she said, "I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your butt."

I blinked at her, then asked, "Who?"

"Our teacher. Duh!"

I blinked again. We didn't have a teacher called Mrs. Kerr. I asked her what she was talking about but she just rolled her eyes at me and turned away.

I asked Grover where Mrs Dodds was. He said, "Who?" But he paused first, and he wouldn't look at me so I thought that maybe it was just a prank they were all playing on me.

"This isn't funny man," I told him, "It's serious."

He looked at me and said, "I'm not being funny."

I then looked over to Mr. Brunner, sitting under his red umbrella, reading his book, as if he'd never moved. I decided to ask him about it because he was there when it happened.

I walked over to him and he looked up from his book, "Mr Jackson, what can I do for you?"

I noticed the ballpoint pen that was in his pocket and saw that it was the same one he threw to me. "What happened to Mrs. Dodds?" I asked.

He looked genuinely confused, "Who?"

"The other chaperone. Mrs Dodds, The pre-algebra teacher."

He frowned and sat forward looking mildly concerned, "Percy, there is no Mrs. Dodds on this trip. As far as I know, there has never been a Mrs Dodds at Yancy Academy. Are you feeling all right?"

* * *

 **A/N Another really long chapter. I was hoping that I could post this chapter yesterday but I didn't finish this chapter in time. But anyways, there will be a part 2 of this chapter because I didn't want to have so many words in one chapter. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, leave a Review and tell me what you think, and if you really liked it Follow and Favorite.**

 **Goodbye my Greek geeks.**


	6. The socks of sasquatch

**Percy Jackson Son of Hearth and Sea: The Lightning Thief**

 **A/N Hello again everyone. I have a new chapter for all you lovely people out there that have nothing better to do with their time and it's early. This is part 2 to the previous chapter because I couldn't have both chapters together or else chapter 5 would have been way longer than it already is. You may also have noticed the new name for my story, that is because I decided to have this as a many part story or else this would have hundreds of chapters. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter, review what you think of the story so far and if you really like it, Follow and Favorite.**

 **Reviews:**

 **Ben is gay: Hello Juan, I love you too**

 **Nuaj1: Marcel?**

 **Disclaimer: I am not Rick Riordan so I do not own PJO so I'm crying because it's just so sad.**

* * *

 **Chapter 6:**

The rest of the school year the whole campus seemed to be playing a trick on me because no one ever remembers there being a Mrs. Dodds. The students acted as if they were completely and totally convinced that Mrs. Kerr, a perky blonde woman whom I'd never seen before until she got on our bus after the trip ended, was our pre-algebra teacher since Christmas.

Every so often I'd spring a Mrs. Dodds reference on somebody, just to see if I could trip them up, but they'd just stare at me like I was a psycho.

I Iris-messaged Zoë about it and she says that it's probably the work of the Mist. A magical veil that covers the eyes of mortals and prevents them from seeing what is truly happening. I decided to accept that's what has happened. But I also had more questions about what happened that day and I got so frustrated thinking about them and what Mrs. Dodds said that I started to do worse in my classes.

I would let my grades start slipping, I would get into more fights with Nancy and get sent out into the hallways a lot more often.

When our English teacher, Mr. Nicoll, asked me for the millionth time why I was too lazy to study for the spelling tests on a particularly unpleasant day, I snapped. I called him an old sot, which I'm sure Zoë would be proud of me for doing.

The headmaster then sent a letter to my mum explaining that I won't be coming back next year. I'm not sure how he was going to send a goddess a letter, but what the Hades, she probably has some address somewhere for him to send.

Besides, I was really starting to miss the Hunters, I couldn't wait to see them all again.

But there would still be things that I would miss about Yancy, like the view of the woods of my dorm window that constantly reminded me of my time with the Hunt. The Hudson River in the distance and the smell of pine trees. I'd miss Grover who was a great friend, even if he was a little strange.

I was worried how he'd survive without me next year. I would also miss my Latin classes. Mr. Brunner and his crazy tournament days.

Even though I wasn't coming back next year and I was doing pretty bad in most of my classes, I was determined to pass his class.

The evening before my final I was really starting to get frustrated because the words were floating off the pages. I decided to calm myself before I burst into flames and paved the room for a bit. I decided to ask Mr. Brunner for help so I grabbed my text book, _Cambridge Guide to Greek Mythology,_ and left my dorm to find him.

I went to the faculty offices and saw that his door was slightly ajar with light streaming down on the floor. I was three steps from the door handle when I heard voices coming from inside, one belonging to Mr. Brunner and the other to Grover. "-worried about Percy, sir." I heard Grover say.

I froze.

I'm not usually an eavesdropper but I dare you to not listen when someone says your name.

I inched closer.

"...alone this summer." Grover was saying. "I mean a Kindly One in _school!_ Now that we know for sure, and _they_ know too-" _Kindly One?! That's another name for a Fury, so they do know something._

"We would only make matters worse by rushing him." Mr. Brunner said. "We need the boy to mature more."

"But he may not have time. The Summer Solstice deadline-"

"Will have to be resolved without him, Grover. Let him enjoy his ignorance while he still can."

"Sir, he _saw_ her..."

"His imagination," Mr. Brunner insisted. "The Mist over students and staff will be enough to convince him of that."

"Sir, I... I can't fail in my duties again." Grover's voice was choked with emotion. "You know what that would mean."

"You haven't failed Grover," Mr. Brunner said kindly. "I should have seen her for what she was. Now let's just worry about keeping Percy alive until next fall-"

He never got to finish the sentence because I had burst into the room unable to hide my curiosity any longer. I was not expecting what I walked into.

What I saw was Grover and Mr. Brunner looking at me wide-eyed, but they weren't exactly Grover and Mr. Brunner.

Grover from the waist down had what looked like some kind of hoofed animal's legs, with fur and all.

Mr. Brunner is what took the prize for most surprising look. Instead of being in a wheelchair, he was standing up tall. But he wasn't standing on two human legs, or goat legs like Grover. From the waist-down he was a pure white stallion. His wheelchair was behind his desk unoccupied. An archer's bow was lying on top of his desk.

I stared completely stunned at the two, because this was completely unexpected. I knew that Mr. Brunner was somehow involved in the godly world, but I wasn't expecting him to be a centaur, or my best friend to be a satyr.

"P-p-percy!" Grover said surprised that I was listening on their conversation. "It's not what it looks like."

I was silent for a few seconds then said, "So, that's why you walk funny."

Grover started spluttering, completely surprised by my response.

Mr. Brunner looked uncomfortable with the quick turn of events. "Percy," he said, "I ... erm ... How long have you been outside?"

"Long enough to know that I didn't imagine Mrs. Dodds." I replied.

They looked even more uncomfortable. "Look, Percy" Grover said, "There's something about yourself that you need to know."

"I already know though."

Mr. Brunner looked even more surprised. "What do you know?"

"I know that I'm a Half-Blood, and I know that Mrs. Dodds was actually a Kindly One."

"How do you know this?" Mr. Brunner asked.

"My adopted mother told me."

"Sir, it's worse than we thought." Grover said.

"There is nothing we can do. He might not be a powerful demigod if he already knows of his heritage." Mr. Brunner said. I almost scoffed at that.

"Wait a minute. Who are you? And what were you talking about with the summer solstice?" I questioned.

"It is nothing you should concern yourself with," Mr. Brunner said. "As for who am I? I am Chiron, the trainer of heroes." Normally I would've been awed, but there was so much information swimming in my head I couldn't concentrate.

I walked towards Mr. Brunner's – no, Chiron's – chairs on the other side of his wheelchair and plopped down in it, clutching my head. Taking deep breaths, I slowly composed myself while Grover and Chiron patiently waited.

"So, were you watching over me all school year?" I asked them.

"Yes," Chiron replied. "Grover was sent to locate a half-blood with a powerful scent. Once he met you, he immediately contacted me. We let your mother know that we were watching you."

"You … talked to my mother?" I asked a little worried they knew who she was.

"Yes, although why she didn't mention she had told you, I don't know." Chiron said.

I was wondering the same thing. Why didn't she tell them I knew I was a half-blood? Whatever it was, I was relieved.

"What do we do now?" Grover asked.

"For now, nothing," Chiron said. "We continue the school year as per usual, and if another monster attacks we bring him back to camp."

"What happens if no monsters attack?" I asked.

"You'll go live with your mother and if no monsters attack. You will stay there." Chiron informed me.

I nodded my head.

"Now off to bed both of you," Chiron told us. "You have a long week of exams ahead."

We walked out of Chiron's office, in silence, towards our dorm.

"Look, Perce," Grover said. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

"It's fine Grover," I told him with a reassuring smile. "I'm not mad, I'm just relieved."

Grover smiled. "Thanks man."

Realization then came to me and I slammed the book that was still in my hand against my forehead and yelled, "Stupid!"

Grover yelped. "What's wrong?"

"I was going to ask Chiron for help with Latin," I told him. "That was the whole reason I was there."

Grover just patted my back reassuringly.

The last days of the school year went by normally. I had passed my Latin exam with a little help from Grover. We had packed our bags and took a bus towards Manhattan. We made light conversation. I talked about living with my mum and adopted sisters – not mentioning that they were the Hunters of Artemis - while he talked about Camp Half-Blood, a place that my mum had briefly explained to me. He had given me a card with fancy writing that made it very hard to read with dyslexia. It read:

 _Grover Underwood_

 _Keeper_

 _Half-Blood Hill_

 _Long Island, New York_

 _(008) 009 0009_

He told me that if something ever happened that had to do with monsters, to either call him, or visit that address.

We were headed down a country road, with nothing but woods on either side, when suddenly, the bus started making grinding noises and black smoke poured from the dashboard, giving off the smell of rotten eggs.

The driver cursed and pulled the bus to the side of the highway.

The driver said we'd have to get out of the bus so he could repair it so me and Grover filed out with everyone else.

Across the street from us, four lanes away, there was an old-fashioned fruit stand. The stuff on stand looked really good. Heaping boxes of blood red cherries and apples, walnuts and apricots and jugs of cider. There were no customers, just three old ladies sitting in rocking chairs in the shade of a maple tree knitting the biggest pair of socks I'd ever seen. I mean, these socks were the size of sweaters, but they were clearly socks. _Are they crazy?_ The lady on the left knitted one, the lady on the right knitted another and the lady in the middle held an enormous basket of electric-blue yarn. All three women looked ancient, with pale faces, wrinkled like fruit leather. Silver hair tied back in white bandannas and bony arms sticking out of bleached cotton weirdest thing is that they seemed to be looking right at me. They were very familiar but I couldn't seem to put my finger on it.

I turned to Grover to say something about it but he was looking in the same direction and the blood had drained from his face. His nose was twitching.

"Grover?" I said. "Hey man-"

"Tell me they're not looking at you. They are, aren't they?"

"Yeah, pretty weird huh? You think those socks would fit me?"

"Not funny, Percy. Not funny at all." I didn't understand why he looked so frightened over some knitting old ladies. I felt like I was missing something extremely important.

The old lady in the middle then pulled out a huge pair of scissors, silver and gold, long-blades, like shears. I heard Grover catch his breath.

"We're getting on the bus," he told me. "Come on."

"What?" I said. "It smells like rotten eggs in there."

"Come on!" He pried open the door and climbed in but I stayed back.

I turned my attention back to the old ladies, to see them still watching me. The lady with the shears then cut the yarn and I swear I heard the snip from all the way over here. Too late did I realize who the old ladies really were. Those old ladies were deities that I hoped I never had to see in my life. They were the Fates, and they had just cut someone's life string. Which left me wondering, _how the Hades was getting on a bus going to help?!_

* * *

 **A/N I know there wasn't really much in this chapter, but not every chapter can be action packed and humor filled. Sooo, yeah. New chapter tomorrow that will be a lot more action packed and humor filled. For now though I'll let you wonder what will happen. Review what you thought of the chapter or the story in general so I can know if you're really enjoying it, and if you really like it, Follow and Favorite.**

 **Goodbye my Greek geeks. Tide out.**


	7. I'm home

**Percy Jackson Son of Hearth and Sea: The Lightning Thief**

 **A/N Hello again my peeps. I have a grand chapter for you all. I'm a little excited for the next chapters because I have a major plot twist coming up. It is going to blow your minds. I'm grinning like an idiot just thinking about it. For now, I hope you enjoy this chapter, Review what you think about my story so far and if you really like it Follow and Favorite.**

 **Reviews:**

 **Hannah glawe: Thank you *bows deeply* Here's a blue cookie for you**

 **SuitedClown: I just realized I got 'Ben is Gay' and 'Nuaj1' mixed up**

 **Disclaimer: I own PJO. *Arrow narrowly misses groin* Okay! Okay! I don't own PJO! Rick Riordan does!**

* * *

 **Chapter 7:**

I was freaking out.

I didn't know what it meant but I knew that somebody was going to die. The driver had managed to fix the bus and we all got back on.

I didn't say anything for a few minutes of the bus ride, and neither did Grover. He didn't look good, either. His face was pale and he was shivering and his teeth were chattering.

"Grover."

He turned to me.

"Please tell me it wasn't them." I pleaded.

He just looked at me sorrowfully, like he was already planning my funeral shroud. "I'm sorry Percy."

I cradled my head in my hands. I didn't know what to do. This is without a doubt the most frightening moment of my life.

Grover put a hand in my shoulder. "Maybe it was someone else's life string, maybe it just means that you'll die very far in the future." He said desperately. But it sounded more like he was trying to reassure himself.

I didn't want to burst his bubble, so I said, "We can only hope."

"Should we go to camp?" He asked.

I shook my head. "No, Chiron said only to go to camp if a monster was involved. The Fates may be cruel, but unfortunately we can't call them monsters."

He nodded his head in understanding. "Okay. I'll go with you until you get to your place."

Just to make him feel better I let him tag along. All this craziness may have happened but I was still going to see the Hunters. We took a cab to the street my mum had told me to go to. When I stepped out of the cab I could only stare wide-eyed at the building in front of me.

I walked into the lobby like I was in a trance. I walked up the steps, past floor two… past level three… and walked into the hallway of level four, I wasn't sure if Grover was still following me. I walked past several doors, then I stopped. I stared at the door in front of me, my mind was blank. I stared at what it said on the apartment door for a long amount of time.

 _408 Jackson_ is what it read.

It was _my_ apartment. The same one me and my mum lived in more than seven years ago. The same one where my mother was killed. _I'm home._

I was broken out of my musings when a hand was placed on my shoulder. "Hey Perce, you okay?" He asked concerned.

I just nodded my head, not trusting my voice. I suddenly felt something in my pocket. I pulled it out and found to my surprise, keys, with the number 408 written on the tag. I don't remember having keys but I guess my mum put them there with her powers. I pushed the key into the door lock, took a deep breath and opened the door.

It looked exactly the same as before Smelly Gabe started living with us. I put my bags down and looked at everything absolutely amazed. I realized Grover was still standing by the door not knowing whether to come in or not.

I cleared my throat. "Oh, umm. Thanks G-man for coming with me."

He smiled at me. "No problem Perce, but where's your mum?"

"I'm not sure," I told him, "but she'll be back soon."

He nodded his head, he started to fidget nervously. "So, I guess I'll be going now." He said.

I smiled sadly and walked over to him. "Thanks for protecting me G-man. I'm sure that we'll see each other soon."

He pulled away from the hug, "Yeah, let's just hope it's not because we're being chased by killer monsters." He said jokingly.

I chuckled nervously, "Don't jinx it man."

I watched him walk down the hallway for a little bit then I turned and closed the door.

I looked around at my old apartment and although it brought some bad memories, I didn't let it bother me, I had a small smile on my face. I decided to take a small tour and went with where my stomach wanted to go. The kitchen.

I went through all the cabinets and the fridge, and found it stocked with food. I took out a packet of Oreo's and started eating that. I then walked passed the living room and went towards the bedrooms. I went to my mum's rooms first, because it was closest, and found it the same.

I then went towards my own room and what I saw made my eyes widen and my jaw go slack. My room was relatively the same, but covering most of one of the walls was a variety of photos from my time in the Hunt. There was a photo of me when I first learned how to shoot a bow. There was another one of when I accidentally started a food fight when I was eleven, and another of me and Zoe when we first became friends. Lots of these photos I didn't even know were taken. I looked away from memory wall, because it would take me hours to look at them all, and saw an envelope on my bedside table. In red wax was a Greek letter "H" stamped onto it and I instantly knew it was from my mum.

I opened the letter and was thankful it was Ancient Greek, it's been so long since I could read properly. It read:

 _Dear Percy,_

 _I hope you like the meeting place I have chosen. I know that it may bring back some bad memories, but I also know that you will remember the good ones. I'm sorry I can't be there right now but there is trouble on Olympus and I must maintain the peace. You will also not be going to the Hunters this summer, for you are in great danger. I have done what I could to hide your demigod scent but now that a Fury has found you, more monsters will find you. One has already caught your scent, a powerful monster. I need you to go with your friend the satyr, to Camp Half-Blood where you will be safe. Now run Percy._

 _Run._

* * *

 **A/N What did you guys think? Was it great? Did it leave you wondering what the heck is going on? If so... BRILLIANT! I really loved making this chapter and I know I said there would be action in this chapter but that was just too good a spot to finish at. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, leave a Review of what you think and if you really liked it Follow and Favorite.**

 **Goodbye my Greek geeks. Tide out.**


	8. I learn to be a Torero

**Percy Jackson Son of Hearth and Sea: The Lightning Thief**

 **A/N Hello again my Percy peeps. I have a new chapter for you all. You will finally get to see some Percy Jackson action. You might have noticed the name change for my story and that is because I have decided to make this a many part story with this obviously being the first book. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter and I hope that I did well. So, Review what you think and if you really like it, Follow and Favorite.**

 **Reviews:**

 **Hannah glawe: Thank you again m'lady. Have another cookie**

 **Disclaimer: I would like to say that I own PJO *Arrow is aimed at head* but I am not Rick Riordan so therefore I do not.**

* * *

 **Chapter 8:**

I blame Grover for this. He totally jinxed it.

When I finished the letter, I bolted out of the apartment, Oreo's still in my hand, and prayed that Grover was still in the building.

I found out that he was in the building when I ran into him in the stairway near the ground floor and we collapsed on the floor. I mentally thanked that he walked really slowly down the stairs and apologized for all the times I complained.

"Grover! It's totally your fault!" I yelled at him.

He looked at me bewildered, "You ran into me!"

"Not that! Monster! You totally jinxed it!" I pulled us both to our feet and ran out the door Grover hot on my heels.

"Where?!" He asked looking behind us.

"I don't know, but we have to leave right now."

Grover was about to call for a cab but I stopped him before he could, "We can't take a taxi," I told him, "We'd just endanger the mortal's life."

"Then how do we get there?" He asked me.

I looked over to my side and saw a car with the driver's door wide open. I got an idea – a stupid, crazy and insane idea that might not work – but an idea nonetheless.

"Can you drive?" I asked Grover.

He looked at me like I was crazy then he looked over to where I was looking a second ago and seemed to understand what I was talking about. "No way man! That's absolutely insane! I'm not doing it."

Ten minutes later we were tearing down the New York streets and Grover was going at least eighty-five miles an hour. I was still eating my Oreo's.

"I can't believe you talked me into this!"

"Keep driving. Once we're out of New York, you can calm down a little." I said as he swerved to avoid another oncoming car.

"What monster is chasing us?" He asked.

"I don't know, I just know that whatever it is, it's powerful."

Eventually we were out of New York and driving through Long Island. During our very dangerous and reckless driving I had run out of Oreo's. It had also started raining, and it was raining hard. When we reached Long Island, it was probably around night time and lightning was flashing across the sky. _Someone seems angry,_ I mused.

Grover had asked me how I knew I was a demigod. I didn't want to lie to him, but I couldn't tell him "Hestia adopted me and I trained with the Hunters of Artemis who hate men with a passion," I would sound crazy. I just told him, "I'm not allowed to say."

He took a hard right onto a narrower road and raced past darkened farmhouses and white picket fences with PICK YOUR OWN STRAWBERRY signs on them.

I looked behind us to make sure nothing was following us. There was a flash of lightning and on a hill about a mile away I saw a figure, a huge bulking figure that I can't describe properly because I only saw it for about a second.

I was about to tell Grover to hurry up but I felt the hair rise on the back of my neck. There was a blinding light followed by a jaw-rattling _boom!,_ and our car exploded.

I remember feeling weightless, like I was, crushed, fried and hosed down all at the same time. My head was spinning and I couldn't think properly for a small while.

When I regained my senses, I realized that the car was now in a ditch to the side of the road. I groaned again and looked to my left to see if Grover was alright.

"Grover? You alright?"

A groan escaped his lips, "Y-yeah, I'm food." He said still a little dazed.

I felt a bit wet for some reason and I looked at the roof of our car, or what was left of it. In the middle of the roof was a gaping hole that was sizzling around the edges with rain pouring in from it. The seats in the back were singed.

 _Lightning,_ I thought, _we were struck by lightning._ I remembered something I learnt about lightning storms. It was apparently safest to stay in your car because the rubber of car tyres doesn't let the electricity travel to the ground. What a load of bullshit.

I didn't get to think any more on the subject because there was another flash of lightning and the figure I saw from earlier was a lot closer now, maybe several hundred meters away. I got a better look at the figure and saw that it was seriously buff and a head that looked too big to be a normal person's head.

I undid my seat belt and reached over for my bag I brought that had my Celestial Bronze sword in it. I called out to Grover. "Grover, we need to get out of here!"

"Yeah-yeah, we need to get food." He mumbled.

"No! We need to get out of here!" I said finally reaching for the bag and pulling out my sword.

"Yeah, that too."

I rolled my eyes in exasperation and exclaimed, "Grover look an enchilada truck!"

That instantly snapped him out of his daze. He whipped his head around looking for the truck, "What?! Where?!"

"Nowhere!" He looked disappointed. "Grover there is something out there and it's coming after us! Where is Half-Blood Hill?"

Realization came to him and he quickly got out of the car and I followed suit. He pointed to a spot and said, "It's just over there, the camp borders are beyond the giant pine tree!"

I looked over to where he was pointing and saw the giant pine tree he was talking about as more lightning flashed across the sky. It was still some distance down the road but not too far. Suddenly, there was a loud bellow coming from behind us, I turned around and saw the figure again. I got an even better look at him. I could see the silhouette of a large beefy guy with huge meaty hands and his chest was fuzzy. His head was massive and I could see horns on top and he was lumbering towards us like a bull.

"Let's go!" I called out to Grover. We made our way out the ditch and ran down the road towards the pine tree, sword in my hand.

There was another bellow but it sounded a lot angrier this time. I took a quick peak back to see what was happening and was very glad I did. I tackled Grover onto the ground right as the car flew over our heads. It continued rolling and skidding and sparking for about half a mile before it came to a stop. The gas tank exploded.

I got up onto one knee leaving my sword on the ground and made my bow and quiver full of arrows appear. I notched an arrow and aimed at him. I realized that it would be useless because I couldn't see a damn thing and the wind would mess up my shot.

I made them disappear then helped Grover to his feet and picked up my sword. We continued running towards the tree and started trekking up the hill through the waist-high grass.

We stopped and glanced back again. I got my first clear look at the monster that was chasing us. He was seven feet tall easy, his arms and legs look like something out of _Muscle Man_ magazine and bulging biceps and triceps and whole bunch of other 'ceps, all stuffed like baseballs under vein-webbed skin. His neck was a mass of muscle and fur, along with his chest, that lead up to his head, which had a snout as long as my arm, snotty nostrils with a gleaming brass ring, cruel black eyes and enormous black-and-white horns with points you couldn't get from any type of sharpener.

I instantly recognized the monster. It was the monster that haunted the Labyrinth of Daedalus, the half-man half-bull. The Minotaur.

I would have been frightened if his bottom half didn't look so ridiculous. He didn't wear any clothes except for bright white, tighty whitey underpants. _What kind of detergent does he use?_ I wondered.

He was headed in our direction which means that he could probably smell us. Most likely me though. He then looked in our direction and he looked like he got angry because we didn't get squashed like we were meant to. I couldn't use my fire powers because it was pouring rain and it wouldn't be very effective.

I quickly told Grover, "He's going to charge. Wait until the last second and jump to the side." He just nodded his head.

Not a second later he charged at us horns pointed down and moving about thirty miles an hour. I was glad I came up with this plan because if I waited to stab him with my sword I would've been crushed by the force he was coming at. We waited for the last second and jumped in different directions. I did a roll and came up on one knee with my sword planted in the ground to keep myself from sliding down the steep hill. Grover just landed on his side with an, "oomph."

The Minotaur barreled past us and slammed head first into a tree causing it to shake and leaves to fall. He got his horns stuck in the trunk and was struggling to get himself free. I wouldn't be able to reach him fast enough to finish him before he freed himself.

"Hey Grover!" I called. "Can you play nature magic?"

"Yeah!" He called back a little hesitantly. "But I'm not very good!"

"It's better than nothing!" The Minotaur had escaped from the trees clutches and whipped around to face us. "Now!" Grover then whipped out his pan pipes and started playing, "Is that Hilary Duff?!" I asked incredulously. The waist tall grass started to grow longer and began wrapping around the Minotaur's body. The giant bull-man bellowed in rage and started pulling to tear it off himself.

I quickly used this to our advantage and charged him. When I got within reach of him he tore through the grass blades that were restricting his arms and swung at me catching me in the chest and sending me flying and my sword was released from my grasp.

"Percy!" I heard Grover shout. My vision swam and I could feel a pain in my chest. I had probably broken some ribs. I looked over to Grover and what I saw made my blood boil. The Minotaur had escaped his grassy prison and charged at Grover. He swung his arm at him and sent him crashing into a tree knocking him unconscious.

I could feel adrenaline pumping in my veins like someone had just given me several injections of it. Or maybe it was the Oreo's I ate earlier. I wasn't thinking anymore, I was just following my instincts. I got to my feet and yelled, "Hey Ground Beef!" The Minotaur turned to me, he obviously didn't like the nickname I gave him, I pulled off the red jacket I was wearing and started waving it. "Torro! Torro! Andale!"

He really didn't like that. He snorted, steam and snot coming from his nostrils and charged at me arms outstretched. I couldn't jump to the side or else he would catch me. I turned around and sprinted straight towards a tree. I could hear the Minotaur a few meters behind me.

When I reached the tree, I let go of my jacket letting it fly into the Minotaur's face and made my bow and arrows appear. Then I jumped and ran up the tree and did a back flip with three arrows notched.

The Minotaur slammed into the tree a horn stuck in its trunk. When I was facing the monster in midair, I let the arrows fly straight into the monsters back.

It must have really hurt because he instantly straightened his back, his horn torn off his head still in the trunk of the tree only causing him more pain, if his loud bellow wasn't any indication to that.

I landed on my feet gracefully and fired a few more arrows straight into his back, but I realized that it wasn't going to do much because of his thick skin. He turned on me enraged, but clearly in pain, and charged again, except now he was a lot slower and was stumbling a bit. As soon as he got within reach I twirled to my left, out of the way, and slammed my bow into his overgrown head. It gave me my intended results.

The Minotaur flipped onto his back and collapsed. I made my bow and arrows disappear and ran to the tree with the horn in it. I yanked it out of the tree and ran back to the Minotaur who was beginning to get up. I jumped in the air the horn in both my hands raised above my head and I yelled a battle cry. Too late did he realize what I was doing.

I landed on top of him and plunged the horn straight into his giant fuzzy chest.

The Minotaur gave one last bellow of pain then crumbled into gold dust. The rain had stopped and the storm rumbled in the distance. The adrenaline rush I had was gone now. I was breathing heavily, the pain in my chest had significantly increased and I was starting to feel dizzy and spots were dancing in front of my eyes. I made my way over to Grover, the Minotaur horn still tightly clutched in my hand. I managed to make it to him and pulled him to his feet. I hauled him up the hill and towards the enormous pine tree.

I finally made it to the top of the hill, I couldn't see anything beyond the tree but when I stepped past it I saw a large farm house with lights in it. I staggered towards it feeling my consciousness slowly slipping.

The last thing I remember was collapsing on the wooden porch, looking up at a ceiling fan circling above me, moths flying around a yellow light, and the familiar faces of a man with a beard and a pretty girl, her blond hair curled like a princess' and stormy grey eyes that were wide open with surprise.

The girl said, "He's the one. He must be."

"Silence, Annabeth," the familiar man said. "He's still conscious. Take them to the infirmary."

And then I blacked out.

* * *

 **A/N Percy has finally made it to Camp Half-Blood! So, what did you think of my twist on this part of the story? Was it good? Was it great? Did it make you jump out your seat and go "Whoo!"? Leave a Review so I can know. I really enjoyed making this chapter because it's different to the book and Percy is a total bad ass. And just so no one is confused. The bow Percy has, was given to him by Lady Artemis and is magic, so it can appear and disappear whenever he needs it to it's a standard Hunters bow and is mentioned in Book Three "The Titan's Curse". As always, Review what you thought and if you really liked it, Follow and Favorite.**

 **Goodbye my Greek geeks. Tide out.**


	9. I win at pinochle

**Percy Jackson Son of Hearth and Sea: The Lightning Thief**

 **A/N Hello from Camp Half-Blood and Happy Easter. I have another chapter all ready for all you lazy people out there reading this on your phones, laptops, etc. I hope you enjoy this chapter and leave a Review of what you think, I really appreciate everyone who does leave a Review and if you really like it, Follow and Favorite.**

 **Me: …**

 **Lady Artemis: Aren't you forgetting something** _ **boy?!**_

 **Me: I don't think so.**

 **Lady Artemis: Boy! If you do not say it I will castrate you!**

 **Me: I could just erase you from- *Arrow lands millimeters from genitals***

 **Disclaimer: IdonotownPJORickRiordandoes.**

* * *

 **Chapter 9:**

I wasn't exactly sure what was happening.

I kept slipping in and out of consciousness.

The first time I was conscious I remembered lying in a soft bed, being spoon-fed something that tasted like butter-popcorn, only it was pudding.

The girl with curly blond hair hovered over me, smirking as she scraped drips off my chin with the spoon. When she saw my eyes open, she asked, "What will happen at the Summer Solstice?"

"Huh?" I managed.

She looked around, as if afraid someone might overhear. "What's going on? What was stolen? We've only got a few weeks." Was this girl crazy? I'm barely conscious and she expects me to tell her something. I barely even know what's going on.

"What the H-" I mumbled, but was quickly interrupted.

Someone knocked on the door, and the girl quickly filled my mouth with pudding.

When I fell unconscious, I had a hazy dream. I saw my mother Hestia and she was telling me something like not telling them everything I knew, but I couldn't make out the rest.

The next time I woke up the girl was gone. A husky dude, like a surfer, stood in the corner of the bedroom keeping watch over me. He had blue eyes - too many to count - on his cheeks, his forehead and the back of his hands. I knew him, but I was too dazed to remember. I passed out from thinking too hard.

While I was unconscious I had a vivid dream. It was storming on a beach, and two magnificent animals, a white horse and a golden eagle, were trying to kill each other at the edge of the surf.

The eagle swooped down and slashed the horses muzzle with its huge talons. The horse reared up and kicked at the eagle's wings. As they fought, the ground rumbled, and a monstrous voice chuckled somewhere beneath the earth, goading the animals to fight harder.

I ran toward them, knowing I had to stop them, but I was running in slow motion. I knew I would be too late. I saw the eagle dive down, its beak aimed at the horse's wide eyes, and I screamed, _No!_

I woke with a start.

There was no storm, or beach, or horse's and eagle's fighting. I was now sitting on a deck chair on a huge porch, gazing across a meadow at green hills in the distance. The breeze smelled like strawberries. There was a blanket over my legs and a pillow behind my neck. This was great and all, but my mouth felt like a scorpion had been using it for a nest. My tongue was dry and nasty and every one of my teeth hurt. I was in a cold sweat from my dream and I could still feel my heart pounding in my chest.

 _What was that dream about? What did it mean?_ I thought.

I looked to the table next to me and saw a tall drink. It looked like apple juice, with a green straw and a paper parasol stuck through a maraschino cherry. My hand was so weak. I almost dropped the glass once I got my fingers around it.

"Careful," said a familiar voice.

Grover was leaning against the porch railing, looking like he hadn't slept in a week. Under one arm, he cradled a shoe box. In the other was a Celestial Bronze sword. He was wearing blue jeans, Converse hi-tops and a bright orange T-shirt that said CAMP HALF-BLOOD.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey," I said back. "How long was I out?" I asked.

"Two days. I woke up just a few hours ago." He informed me. "You saved my life man." He then leaned the sword on the fence and placed the box in my lap. I looked at him curiously. "It's a spoil of war."

I opened the box to find a black-and-white bulls horn. The base was jagged from being broken off, the tip splattered with dried blood.

He then went over and grabbed the sword. I thought he was about to kill me with it, but he just placed it next to me and said, "I went back to the hill. I thought you might want this back." I realized that it was my sword, the one I had dropped when fighting the Minotaur.

I smiled at him, "Thanks man." I didn't really like the sword because it wasn't very well balanced, but I was still grateful he went up just to get one of my things.

"I saw what you did on the hill." He said, shocking me. "That was awesome!"

"You were awake for that?" I asked.

"I was in and out of it, but I managed to catch most of your epic battle." I blushed a little.

"Yeah, well. I wasn't about to let my best-friend die."

He must have heard how hoarse my throat sounded because he passed me the glass of whatever was in there. I put the straw in my mouth and instantly recognized what it was when I felt the familiar taste of warm chocolate-chip cookies. The ones my birth mother used to make and the ones my current one makes. Blue chocolate-chip cookies, buttery and hot, with the chips still melting. Nectar, the drink of the gods. I moaned at the taste.

Before I knew it, I had finished the entire glass and I felt warm and good and full of energy.

"What did it taste like?" He asked. Nectar tastes different for everyone, it tastes like whatever your favorite food is so I understood why he looked so eager to know.

"Chocolate-chip cookies. Homemade."

"And how do you feel?" He asked.

"Like I could take on three Minotaur's and throw them a hundred yards."

"That's good. That's good. I don't think you should risk having anymore." He then took the glass from me gingerly, like it was TNT and placed it down. I understood why, if a demigod was to have too much of the godly food they would spontaneously combust.

"Where am I?" I asked finally.

"The big house," he answered, "you'll find out more about it later. Right now, Chiron and Mr. D are expecting you."

I groaned, "Help me up?"

I got out of the chair with a bit of effort. The Minotaur horn in my left hand while leaning on my sword with my right. The porch wrapped around all the way around the "Big House" as Grover called it, _what an appropriate name._

As we came around the opposite end of the house, I caught my breath.

We must've been on the north shore of Long Island, because on this side of the house, the valley marched all the way up to the water, which glittered about a mile in the distance. Between here and there, the land was dotted with buildings which looked like Ancient Greek architecture - an open-air pavilion, an amphitheater, a circular arena - except they all looked brand new, their white marble columns sparkling in the sun. In a nearby sandpit, a dozen high school-age kids and satyrs played volleyball. Canoes glided over a small lake. Kids in bright orange T-shirts like Grover's were chasing each other around a cluster of cabins nestled in the woods. Some shot targets at an archery range. Some rode pegasi down a wooded trail.

Down at the end of the porch, two men sat across from each other across a card table. The familiar blond-girl who spoon-fed me what I guess was ambrosia, the food of the gods, was leaning on the porch rail next to them.

The man facing me was small, but porky. He had a red nose, big watery eyes and curly hair so black it looked almost purple. He looked like those paintings of baby angels - what were they called, hubbubs? No, cherubs. That's right. He looked like a cherub turned middle-aged in a trailer park wearing a tiger-pattern Hawaiian shirt. The term sounded familiar, I think someone in the Hunt described someone as looking like a cherub, but I can't remember who they were talking about.

Grover gestured towards the cherub and murmured, "That's Mr. D, he's the camp director. Be polite." Then he made a gesture towards the blond girl, "That's Annabeth Chase. She's just a camper, but she's been here longer than just about anybody." The name sounded so familiar it was killing me. Then I saw her eyes. They were gray like storm clouds and looked like they were analyzing everything, and I had a flashback of my early times in the Hunt. A small blond girl with wide gray eyes scanning everything and a bronze knife in her hand. She was the same girl that the Hunt and I had saved along with another girl called Thalia and a boy, Luke. I had often wondered what happened to them, I guess now I know. Grover then gestured to the man facing away from me in a wheelchair, with a tweed jacket and thinning brown hair, "And obviously, you know Chiron."

Chiron turned around when his name was mentioned and smiled. "Ah, good, Percy. Now we have four for pinochle."

He offered me a chair to the right of Mr. D, who looked at me with bloodshot eyes and heaved a great sigh. "Oh, I suppose I must say it. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood. There. Now don't expect me to be glad to see you."

 _What an ass._ I decided to scoot further away from him because he didn't really seem to like me. Plus, he was most likely drunk.

"Annabeth?" Chiron called. Annabeth stepped forward and Mr. Brunner introduced us. "This young lady nursed you back to health, Percy. Annabeth, my dear, why don't you go check on Percy's bunk? We'll be putting him in cabin eleven for now."

Annabeth said, "Sure, Chiron." She was probably a few inches taller than me and athletic looking. With her deep tan and curly blond hair, she was almost like a stereotypical Californian girl, if it weren't for those stormy gray eyes. She looked like she was analyzing the best way to take me down in a fight.

She glanced at my Minotaur horn and then my sword and then back at me. I imagined she was going to say, _You killed a Minotaur! or Wow, you're so awesome!_ or something like that. Instead she said, "You drool in your sleep." Then she sprinted off down the lawn, blond hair flying behind her.

I just stared at where she was standing a few seconds ago with my eyebrows furrowed together in confusion at what had just happened.

"I must say Percy," Chiron, said snapping me out of my daze. "I'm glad to see you alive. It's been a long time since I made a house call to a potential camper. I'd hate to think I had wasted my time."

"Grover," Mr. D said impatiently, "are you playing or not?"

"Yes, sir!" Grover trembled as he took the fourth chair, though I wasn't sure why he was scared of a pudgy little man in a tiger print Hawaiian shirt. That reference brought up a lesson I took during the Hunt. I was being taught about the different gods and the Hunters described one in particular precisely like that. Although they added a few other choice words that I rather not repeat. This man was, Dionysus the god of wine. He was not at all impressive.

"You _do_ know how to play pinochle?" Mr. D eyes me suspiciously.

"I'm afraid not." I said.

"I'm afraid not, _sir."_ He said.

I just narrowed my eyes at him and retorted, "Well aren't you a pompous ass?"

Mr. Brunner's and Grover's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, and Mr. D seethed at me.

" _Excuse me_?" Mr. D growled.

Grover and Mr. Brunner sent me warning looks but I ignored them. "You heard me."

"You're right, I did." He stated.

"Milord, please don't. He doesn't-" Mr. Brunner tried pleading but Mr. D raised his hand, still looking at me, silencing him.

"Do you know who I am boy?" He asked dangerously calm.

"Yeah," I replied completely unfazed. Grover looked like he was about to pass out any second and Mr. Brunner looked very worried. "You're Dionysus, the god of wine and madness."

He nodded. "Yes, so then you know of the many ways I could punish you for insulting me."

"Yep," I said popping the "p". "But there would be a few people that really wouldn't like that." I gave him a knowing look.

He must have understood what I was talking about because he grumbled something I couldn't make out. "The brat has guts, I'll give him that. "Grover and Mr. Brunner looked relieved. "Pinochle, like gladiator fighting and Pac-Man, is one of the greatest games humans have ever invented. I would expect all _civilized_ young men to know the rules." Mr. D then started dealing the cards like he didn't just threaten my life.

"So, Percy," Chiron said. "Grover told us about your battle with the Minotaur-"

"Sick backflip by the way," Grover added.

"-but I'd like to hear the story from your point of view."

I told them what happened. I left out the part about using my bow because it would draw suspicion as to why I didn't have a bow on me now. Plus, I remembered what my mum had told me in that dream.

There was a small silence which was interrupted by Mr. D yelling, "Oh, a royal marriage. Trick! Trick!" He then tallied up his points cackling like a madman.

Chiron spoke up. "Where did you learn to fight like that?"

"I took classes, at this place where they taught you how to fight with various weapons. A lot of those people became like my family." I lied.

Chiron eyed me suspiciously, but he didn't question anymore on the subject. "Well I can tell you will do well here."

"Thanks." I said.

"Mr. D," Grover asked timidly, "if you're not going to eat it, can I have your Diet Coke can?"

"Eh? Oh, all right."

Grover bit a huge shard out of the aluminum can and chewed it mournfully.

Chiron then asked me, "Do you know who your godly parent is?"

"No sir," I said. _I know who my godly parents are._ "I think my godly parent is my dad, but I'm not sure."

"Isn't your mother mortal?" He asked.

"She's my adopted mother," I explained. "My birth mother left a … letter, explaining who I was and my adopted mother told me everything." This lying was getting easier and easier.

"If you don't mind me asking," Chiron said. "What happened to your birth mother?"

I grimaced. "She was killed, when I was five, by my stepfather. I was found by my adopted mother while I was on the run from home."

Mr. D snorted. "That's how you brats end up dying, running from home." Grover winced at that. Mr. D then waved his hand and a goblet shimmered onto the table and then filled itself with red wine.

"Mr. D," Chiron warned, " your restrictions."

Mr. D looked at the wine and feigned surprise. "Dear me." He looked at the sky and yelled, "Old habits! Sorry!"

Thunder rumbled in the sky.

He waved his hand again and the goblet changed into a fresh can of Diet Coke. He sighed unhappily, popped the top of the lid off and went back to the card game.

Chiron winked at me. "Mr. D offended his father a while back took fancy to a wood nymph who had been declared off limits."

"Only Zeus would be offended by that," I mumbled, "probably just wanted her for himself. Typical men, can't keep it in their pants." Mr. Brunner eyed me warily. _Dammit, radar hearing._

More thunder.

Mr. D snorted. "Yes, Father loves to punish me. The first time. Prohibition. Ghastly! Absolutely horrid ten years! The second time - well, she was pretty, and I couldn't stay away - the second time. He sent me here. Half-Blood Hill. Summer camp for brats like you. 'Be a better influence,' he told me. 'Work with youths rather than tearing them down.' Ha! Absolutely unfair."

I rolled my eyes and thought, _poor wood nymph._ I honestly felt bad for everyone that had to put up with the god who sounded like a pouting six-year-old child.

"I believe I win." Mr. D said with a triumphant smile on his face.

"Not quite, Mr. D." Chiron said. He set down a straight, tallied up the points and said, "The game goes to me."

I thought Mr. D was going to vaporize Chiron right out of his wheelchair, but he just sighed through his nose, as if he were used to being beaten by the Latin teacher. I looked at my cards then at Chiron's, and I got a mischievous grin on my face.

"Sorry to disappoint Chiron," I said. "But the game is mine."

They all looked at my cards wide-eyed and just when I thought Mr. D was about to vaporize me, he bursts into laughter. "Looks like you met your match old friend!" When his laughter died down he let out a tired sigh. He got up, and Grover rose too. "I'm tired," Mr. D said. "I believe I'll take a nap before the sing-along tonight. But first, Grover, we need a talk, _again,_ about your below average performance on this assignment."

Grover's face beaded with sweat. "Y-yes, sir."

He then turned to me. "Cabin eleven, Perry Johnson. And mind your manners." I decided not to comment unless I wanted something bad to happen to me.

He swept into the Big House, Grover following miserably.

"Will Grover be okay?" I asked Chiron.

Chiron nodded, though he looked a bit troubled. "Old Dionysus isn't really mad. He just hates his job. He's been ah... grounded. I guess you would say, and he can't stand waiting another century to go back to Olympus."

"Where is Mount Olympus?" I asked him. "I know that the gods move with the 'Heart of the West' and all that, but I was never actually told the location of their home." I always thought that it would be in Washington DC where all the rich people lived. It would make sense.

Chiron smiled at me and said, "Mount Olympus is right here, in New York. On top of the Empire State Building, 600th floor, special elevator." _Of course_. I was about to comment that it only had one hundred and two floors, but I stopped myself, not questioning how the godly world works.

Chiron started shifting in his wheelchair like he was about to get up. I realized he was getting up, but it had been a while since I had seen him in centaur form that I had forgotten. It was fascinating the way he got up. First, he just started with his body stretching taller than any man. Then he put out one hoof, then another and then his back-end, until he was the entire white stallion I remember from Yancy, except where the horses neck was supposed to be, was my Latin teacher.

"What a relief," Chiron said. "I've been cooped up in there for so long my fetlock had fallen asleep. Come now, Percy Jackson. Now let's get you a bunk in cabin eleven. There will be new friends to meet and plenty of time for lessons tomorrow. Besides, there will be s'mores at the campfire tonight and I simply adore chocolate."

* * *

 **A/N Well that's a wrap folks. I hope you enjoyed this chapter because I enjoy writing them for you. I should probably let you know that there is a possibility that I won't update tomorrow for some personal reasons that would take too long to explain. Nevertheless, leave a Review and tell me what you think about it, and if you really like it, Follow and Favorite.**

 **Goodbye me Greek geeks. Tide out.**


	10. King of the plumbing

**Percy Jackson Son of Hearth and Sea: The Lightning Thief**

 **A/N Hello everybody. I hope you are having/had a wonderful Easter with lots of chocolate. I just want everyone to know that the personal reason for not updating yesterday isn't serious it was just some time management problems. I have also decided that I will not update on Sunday's because those days will give me time for a breather and for working on more chapters. For now though, I hope you enjoy this chapter Review what you think. Be creative and if you really like it, Follow and Favorite.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own PJO Rick Riordan does. *whispers* help me. Artemis is crazy.**

* * *

 **Chapter 10:**

Once Chiron stopped telling me how much he 'simply adored chocolate,' he gave me a nice tour of camp. We passed the volleyball pit. Several of the campers nudged each other. One pointed to the Minotaur horn I was carrying. Another said, "That's _him."_

Most of the campers were older than me. Their satyr friends were bigger than Grover, all of them were trotting around in orange CAMP HALF-BLOOD T-shirts, with nothing else to cover their shaggy hindquarters. I'm not usually shy, but the way they were all staring at me was as if they expected me to do some sort of complicated flip.

I looked back at the "Big House" and, for the first time, saw why it really was called the Big House. It was four stories tall, sky blue with white trim. I was checking out the brass eagle weather vane on the roof when something caught my eye, a shadow in the uppermost window of the attic gable. Something moved the curtain back, just for a second, and I got the distinct impression I was being watched.

"What's up there?" I asked him.

He looked where I was pointing and his smile faded. "Just the attic."

"Does somebody live there?"

"No," he said with finality. "Not a single living thing."

I knew I saw _something_ move the curtain but I wasn't very curious to find out.

"Come along now Percy," Chiron said, his enthusiasm sounding a little forced. "Lots to see."

During our walk across the lawn, I asked. "Are you really _the_ Chiron? Trainer of the greatest heroes to ever have lived?"

He gave me a warm smile and said. "I am indeed, the very same. But we will talk more on that later, for now let us tour camp." I was seriously geeking out. This guy had trained heroes like Heracles and Jason of the Argonauts, but I didn't let it show and listened to what Chiron said about camp.

We walked through the strawberry field where campers were picking bushels of strawberries and a satyr played a tune on his reed pipes.

Chiron told me that the camp grew a nice crop for export to New York restaurants and Mount Olympus, "It pays our expenses," he explained. "And the strawberries take almost no effort."

He said Mr. D had this effect on fruit-bearing plants: they just went crazy whenever he was around. It worked best in grapes, but he was restricted from growing those.

I watched the satyr play his pipe. His music was causing lines of bugs to leave the strawberry patch in every direction, like refugees fleeing a fire. I wondered if Grover could work that kind of magic with his music. I wondered if he was still inside the Big House, getting chewed out by Mr. D.

"Grover won't get into too much trouble, will he?" I asked Chiron. "Honestly, he was a great protector."

Chiron sighed. He shed his tweed jacket and draped it over his horses back like a saddle. "Grover has big dreams Percy. Perhaps bigger than are reasonable. To reach his goal, he must first demonstrate great courage by succeeding as a keeper, finding a demigod and bringing him safely to Half-Blood Hill."

"But that's exactly what he did!" I argued.

"I might agree with you," Chiron said. "But it is not my place to judge. Dionysus and council of Cloven Elders must decide. I'm afraid they might not see this assignment as a success. There was the time when he was unable to protect you from the Kindly One. Then having been unconscious when you were facing the Minotaur and being dragged into camp borders. The council might question whether this shows any courage on Grover's part."

I wanted to protest. None of it was Grover's fault, but there really wasn't anything I could do by saying it to Chiron.

"He'll get a second chance, won't he?"

Chiron winced. "I'm afraid that was his second chance, Percy. The council was not anxious to give him another, either, after what happened the first time, five years ago. Olympus knows, I advised him to wait longer before trying again, he's still so small for his age and he is quite the late bloomer, even for satyr standards, and not very accomplished in woodland magic. Alas he was anxious to pursue his dream. Perhaps now he will find some other career…"

"That's not fair!" I interrupted. "What happened last time? Was it really so bad?"

He looked away quickly, "Let's move along shall we?"

But I wasn't quite ready to drop the subject. "Sir, what happened last time?" I insisted.

Chiron sighed. "You will learn the story soon enough, my boy," He dismissed the subject. "Now come, let us see the woods."

As we got closer I realized how huge the forest actually was. It took up at least a quarter of the valley, with trees so tall and thick, you could imagine that nobody had been there since the Native Americans.

Chiron said, "The woods are stocked, if you want to try your luck, but go armed."

"Stocked with monsters?" I asked.

"Yes, and it gives the Friday night Capture the Flag game a bit more of a challenge." He said, "Do you have your own gear?"

"Just my sword," I told him. I rather not tell him about my bow because that would bring up an unwanted conversation.

He nodded and his eyes did a quick scan of me, "Perhaps a size five will do. I'll visit the armory later."

We continued on our tour and visited the archery range, the canoeing lake, the stables (which Chiron didn't like very much), the javelin range, the sing-along amphitheater and the arena where they held sword and spear fights.

"Sword and spear fights?" I asked a little excited at the idea of challenging other demigods.

"Cabin challenges and all that," he explained. "Not lethal. Usually." Well isn't that reassuring. "Oh yes, and there's the mess hall."

Chiron pointed to an outdoor pavilion framed in white Grecian columns on a hill overlooking the sea. There were dozens of stone benches, but no roof or walls.

"What happens when it rains?" I asked.

Chiron looked at me as if I'd gone a little weird. "Well we still have to eat, don't we?" I decided to drop the subject.

Finally, he showed me the cabins. There were twelve of them, nestled together by the woods near the lake. They were arranged in a U, with two at the base and five in a row on either side. And they were without a doubt the strangest, most bizarre collection of buildings I'd ever seen.

Except for the fact that they each had a large brass number above the door (odds on the left, evens on the right), they looked absolutely nothing alike. Number nine had smokestacks, like a tiny factory. Number four had tomato vines on the walls and a roof made out of real grass. Seven seemed to be made of solid gold, which gleamed so much in the sunlight it was almost impossible to look at.

They all faced a commons area about the size of a soccer field, dotted with Greek statues, fountains, flower beds, and a couple of basketball hoops.

In the center of the field was what really caught my attention. It was a place I would go to in the Hunters camp when I was feeling down and needed comfort. Only this one was a lot bigger. It was stone-lined, blazing Hearth.

I smiled and made my way towards it, passing all the different statues and flowers. Chiron was trailing behind me. A camper then came up to him and started speaking with him when I reached the Hearth. I stood there for a few seconds just feeling the familiar warmth, when I finally noticed a girl about the age of nine tending to it.

I just stared at her for a few seconds, not really sure what to say. Fortunately, I didn't have to because she turned to me with a mischievous smile and familiar warm fiery eyes. "Are you going to stand there gawking all day, or are you going to give your mother a hug?" She said opening her arms inviting me into a hug.

"Mum?" I asked shocked.

She just rolled her eyes and spread her arms wider. I smiled sheepishly at her. _Definitely my mum,_ I thought. I hugged her and instantly felt all my worries disappear.

"How are you feeling my son?" She asked after she pulled away from the hug.

"I'm feeling a lot better now." I told her. We sat down in front of the fire in silence for a few seconds.

"What do you think of camp so far?" She asked me. That's what I loved about my mum so much. She never talked about anything sad or negative, she just looked for ways to keep me happy.

I looked around the cabins area with a smile. "I like it. It's different to the Hunters camp."

"Yes, it is," she said.

"What was it you were trying to tell me in my dream?" I asked.

Her expression went a little grim so I knew this was serious. "Percy, you must not tell anyone of what you know of your parentage." She said.

"What? Why not?"

"It would only put you in danger. In time, I will claim you as my son, but not yet. Zeus already suspects you of being Poseidon's son and he is not at all happy," that explained why Grover and I were struck by lightning a few days ago. She then muttered under her breath, "especially under the circumstances." I didn't know what she meant by the last part, but I left it alone because I always knew I could trust my mum.

I sighed. "Alright then."

"Do not be discouraged by this." She told me, she then got that playful look in her eyes and a mischievous smile. "It would be quite entertaining to watch the other campers try and figure out who your godly parent is."

I chuckled at that. Sometimes I thought that my mum could actually be a child of Hermes if it weren't for her godly powers.

She looked over to where Chiron and the other camper were talking like I wasn't just there a few minutes ago. I guess mum must have sent the camper to distract Chiron so we could talk.

"You should go now," she said. "There is lots more for you to do here and I have already taken quite a bit of your time." I just nodded my head. She then lifted her arms, palms up, and a sheath materialized. "For your sword," she told me. "I think it would be quite annoying to carry that everywhere."

I smiled at my mum and took the sheath. I sheathed my sword and stood up, my mum did the same. She then attached it to my waist and gave me a hug, I hugged her back. I was a little upset that I couldn't talk for a little while longer, but I could just come by here any other time I wanted.

We pulled away from the hug and she gave me a warm smile and said, "Take care my son, and do well."

I smiled back and simply said, "I will."

I then walked back over to where Chiron was still talking with the camper. When I reached them, the camper thanked Chiron and ran off towards cabin ten. It looked like something one of the newer Hunters used to play with. I think it was called Barnabie, or something. Basically, it was completely pink with hints of purple and red.

Chiron turned to me like I was here the whole time and asked, "Shall we get on with the tour?"

I just nodded my head.

"Very good," he then turned and headed towards the two cabins at the end. I took one last look back to my mum to see her tending to the Hearth again. I ran to catch up with Chiron.

The two cabins we were headed to, numbers one and two, looked like his-and-hers mausoleums, big white marble boxes with heavy columns in front. Cabin one was the biggest and bulkiest of the twelve, its polished bronze doors shimmered like a hologram, so that from different angles lightning bolts seemed to streak across them.

Cabin two was more graceful somehow, with slimmer columns garlanded with pomegranates and flowers. The walls were carved with images of peacocks.

I now knew what the cabins meant. They were to represent each Olympian god.

"Zeus and Hera?" I asked.

"Correct," Chiron said.

"Why do they look empty?"

"They do not have any children so their cabins are empty, as are some of the other cabins." That makes sense, their children staying in their cabins.

We then came across cabin three and I stopped. It wasn't high and mighty like cabin one, it was low and long and solid. The outer walls were of rough gray stone studded with pieces of seashell and coral, as if the slabs had been strewn straight from the bottom of the ocean floor. They probably were. I knew who's cabin this was, it was my dad's, _Poseidon_. I was still a little bit bitter at him for not being there for my mum and I and I blamed him for my mum being killed.

I continued with the tour.

Number five was bright red - a real nasty paint job, as if the color had been splashed on with buckets and fists. The roof was lined with barbed wire. A stuffed wild boars head hung over the doorway, and its eyes seemed to follow me. Inside I could see a bunch of mean-looking kids, both girls and boys, arm wrestling and arguing with each other while rock music blared. The loudest was a girl maybe thirteen or fourteen. She wore a size XXXL CAMP HALF-BLOOD T-shirt under a camouflage jacket. She zeroed in on me and gave me an evil sneer. She reminded me of Phoebe, from the Hunters. Except this girl looked much bigger and tougher looking and her hair was brown instead of red.

We continued walking and then Chiron said, "Oh look, Annabeth is waiting for us."

Said girl was reading a book in front of the last cabin on the left, cabin eleven.

When we reached her she looked me over critically, like she was still thinking about how much I drooled.

I looked at what she was reading and saw that she was reading the same book Chiron was reading on the Yancy field trip. _Peter Johnson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief,_ is what it read. _This Peter Johnson must be a pretty popular guy,_ I thought.

"Annabeth," Chiron said, "I have masters' archery class at noon. Would you take Percy from here?"

"Yes, sir."

"Cabin eleven," Chiron told me, gesturing towards the doorway. "Make yourself at home."

Out of all the cabins, eleven looked like the most normal out of them all. The threshold was worn down, the brown paint was peeling. Over the doorway was a symbol I had seen before. A caduceus, which meant that this was the cabin for Hermes.

Inside it was packed with people, both boys and girls, way more than the number of bunk beds. Sleeping bags were spread all across the floor.

Chiron didn't go in. The door was too low for him. But when the campers saw him they all stood up and bowed respectfully.

"Well then," Chiron said. "Good luck, Percy. I'll see you at dinner." He then galloped away toward the archery range.

I stood in the doorway, looking at the kids. They weren't bowing anymore. They were staring at me, sizing me up.

"Well?" Annabeth prompted. "Go on."

I walked in and decided to introduce myself. "Umm, hi. I'm Percy Jackson."

Somebody called out, "You regular or undetermined?"

I was about to answer, but Annabeth replied for me, "Undetermined."

Everybody groaned.

A guy who was a little older than the rest came forward.

"Now, now campers. That's what we're here for. Welcome Percy. You can have that spot right over there."

The guy was about nineteen, and he looked sort of familiar. He was tall and muscular, with short-cropped sandy blonde hair and a friendly smile. He wore an orange tank top, cutoffs, sandals and a leather necklace with five different-colored clay beads. The only thing unsettling about his appearance was a thick white scar that ran from just beneath his right eye and down to his jaw, like a slash from an old rusty knife.

"This is, Luke." I remembered that name. He was the boy that traveled with Annabeth. The way Annabeth said his name sounded strange. I glanced over to her and saw that her cheeks were red. She saw me looking and her expression hardened again. "He's your counselor, for now."

"For now?" I asked.

"You're undetermined," Luke explained patiently. "They don't know what cabin to put you in, so you're here. Cabin eleven takes all newcomers, all visitors. Naturally, we would. Hermes is our patron, the god of travelers."

I just nodded understandingly and looked towards the tiny section of the floor they'd given me. I didn't have anything to put it there to mark as my own, no luggage, no clothes, no sleeping bag. Just the Minotaur's horn and my sword. I thought about setting it down, but I remembered that Hermes was the god of thieves.

I looked around at the campers' faces, some sullen and suspicious, some grinning stupidly, some eyeing me as if they were waiting for a chance to pick my pockets.

"You said that Hermes is your patron not your dad, does that mean some of them here aren't Hermes kids?" I asked. Luke's expression darkened for a second as did some of the other campers.

"You catch on quick," he told me. "But yeah, not all of us are Hermes kids. Some of us are still undetermined or our parents aren't Olympians."

That made me really upset. Some of these kids could have been here for years without knowing who their godly parent is and others stuck here simply because their parent wasn't an Olympian.

"How long does it usually take to get claimed?" I asked.

The campers laughed. It wasn't a jovial laugh though, it was a bitter laugh that proved my thoughts.

Annabeth must have also noticed the change in mood because she said, "Come on, I'll show you the volleyball court."

I was about to protest that I had already seen it but she grabbed my wrist and dragged me outside. I could still hear the other kids laughing. When we were a few feet away, Annabeth said, "Jackson, you have to do better than that."

"What?"

She just rolled her eyes and mumbled under her breath. "I can't believe I thought you were the one."

"What's your problem?" I asked a bit annoyed. "I kill the Minotaur and you expect me to be some kind of god or something."

"Don't talk like that!" She snapped. "You know how many kids at this camp wish they'd had your chance?"

"A chance to get themselves killed?"

"No! To fight the Minotaur! What do you think we train for?"

"Because fighting the Minotaur is such a great feat." I said sarcastically. "I didn't fight the Minotaur because it would get me glory and fame. I fought it because my best friend was in danger. Trust me, fighting super powerful monsters isn't a great thing."

When I finished my little rant, she had this look in her eyes that I wasn't sure what to make of. It looked like she was remembering something.

She then asked, "Do you have a sister?"

I was taken aback by her question, but I answered anyway. Before I did I hesitated, I'm not sure why, maybe it was because I thought of the Hunters as my sisters. "No. Why?"

She looked at me like I was a puzzle piece she couldn't figure out then answered, "Never mind doesn't matter." I figured maybe because she caught sight of me at the Hunters camp all those years ago she must have thought there must have been a girl that probably looked like me.

I decided to change the topic. "Why are there so many campers in cabin eleven?"

"Like Luke said, they're undetermined which means that they stay in there or their parents are minor gods and they don't have cabins here." She explained to me. But that just made me confused.

"Why not just make cabins for the minor gods then? Wouldn't that make everything just easier?" I questioned her.

She kept opening and closing her mouth like she wasn't sure what she had to say about that. Before I could get an answer, a new husky voice called, "Well done newbie! You've managed to make the know-it-all speechless!"

I looked over to the new voice and saw that it was the girl from the ugly red cabin, which I figured was Ares' cabin, sauntering towards us. She had three other girls behind her, all big and ugly and mean looking like her, all wearing camo jackets.

Annabeth was red from what the girl said, "Clarisse," she said through gritted teeth. "Why don't you go polish your spear or something?"

"Sure, Miss Princess," the girl, Clarisse, said. "So I can run you through with it Friday night."

" _Erre es korakas!"_ Annabeth said, which is Ancient Greek for 'Go to the crows!' But the meaning is a whole lot worse. "You don't stand a chance."

"We'll pulverize you." Clarisse said but her eye twitched, so I wasn't sure she could follow through with that threat. She turned toward me. "Who's this little runt?"

"Percy Jackson," I replied. "Who's asking?"

"Clarisse la Rue, daughter of Ares." She replied.

"The god of pigs?" I questioned. She really didn't like that. "It would explain the smell."

She was so red she looked like a strawberry. She didn't attack though. "We got an initiation ceremony for newbies, Prissy."

I just rolled my eyes. "Yeah, that's nice."

She growled again. "Come on, I'll show you."

"Clarisse-" Annabeth tried to say.

"Stay out of it, wise girl."

Annabeth looked pained, but she did stay out of it. I knew what was coming so I was glad that she did. I handed her my Minotaur horn and my sword still in its sheath and got myself ready for a fight.

Clarisse's hand shot out towards my neck, fortunately, I managed to see it coming and avoided it. I quickly grabbed her hand and twisted it, making her palm face her, and put her in a pressure hold causing her to bend her knees. She grunted in pain and before she could do anything I punched her straight in the face, knocking her to the ground. I got into a defensive stance again. The others were too stunned to do anything.

Clarisse screamed, "Get him!" The other Ares girls quickly recovered and charged me.

The first to reach me threw a punch at me, I grabbed her by the arm turned around and judo flipped her over me. That was a big mistake. As soon as I had my back to the other two, they grabbed me by the arms. I tried to break free but they had an iron grip.

They dragged me towards a building made of cinder-block, which I instantly recognized as the bathrooms, with Clarisse trailing behind. "Nobody makes fools out of us!" She growled at me.

They dragged me into the girls' bathrooms. There was a line of toilets on one side and a line of shower stalls down the other. It smelled just like any other public bathroom, and I was thinking that if this place belonged to the gods, they should've been able to afford classier johns.

The girls were all growling at me.

"Like he's 'Big Three' material." Clarisse said as they dragged me towards one of the toilets. "Yeah, right. Minotaur probably fell over laughing, he was so stupid looking."

The others snickered.

Annabeth was in the corner, watching through her fingers, my things tucked under her arms.

The girls pushed me down onto my knees, still holding my arms, and Clarisse started pushing my head down toward the toilet bowl.

I had enough. I was not about to have my head shoved into that nastiness. So with a quick sorry to my mum, I felt the familiar tug in my gut of my powers being used. The plumbing started to rumble and the pipes shuddered. The girls' grips on me loosened. Water shot out of the toilet making an arc over me and then it blasted the girls off of me. I was sprawled on the floor with Clarisse and her sisters screaming.

I turned and willed more water to blast Clarisse, hitting her straight in the face making her fall onto her butt.

The water continued spraying her like a fire hose, pushing her backward into a shower stall.

She struggled, gasping and sputtering and her sisters started coming to her.

The other toilets then exploded too, and six more streams of toilet water blasted them back. Then I made the showers explode too and together they all started spraying the daughters of Ares right out of the bathroom, spinning them around like pieces of garbage being washed away. As soon as they were out the door, the tug in my gut lessened and I let the water shut off.

I looked around at what I did. The bathroom was flooded and Annabeth had not been spared. She was drenched from head to toe, but she hadn't been pushed out the door. I felt kind of bad for getting her wet but tried not to show it. She was standing in exactly the same spot, staring at me in shock.

I looked down to see that I was in the only spot that wasn't wet and I was completely untouched. Not a single drop on me. _Whoops._

I got up trying my best to look confused.

Annabeth just stared at me and she finally asked, "How did you?"

"I don't know." I really hoped my act was working.

We walked to the door. Outside, Clarisse and her friends were sprawled out in the mud, and a bunch of other campers had gathered around to gawk. Clarisse's hair was flattened across her face. Her camouflage jacket was sopping and she smelled like sewage. I had to use all my willpower not to smirk.

She gave me a look of complete loathing and hate. "You are dead, new boy. You are totally dead!"

I couldn't hold back a retort. "You want to gargle more toilet water? Close your mouth!"

Her sisters had to hold her back. They dragged her down to cabin five, while the other campers made way to avoid her flailing feet.

Annabeth was staring at me. I wasn't sure if she was grossed out or angry at me for dousing her in toilet water.

"What?" I asked, feeling a little unnerved by her stare. "What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking," she said, "That I want you on my team for capture the flag."

* * *

 **A/N There it is everyone. I honestly had a bit of trouble writing some of this chapter, but it's here. I hope you enjoyed it and leave a Review to tell me what you think, and if you really liked it, Follow and Favorite.**

 **Goodbye my Greek geeks. Tide out.**


	11. Epic sword fights!

**Percy Jackson Son of Hearth and Sea: The Lightning Thief**

 **A/N People of earth. I have a new chapter for you and this has plenty of action to keep you entertained. I hope. This is going to be a long chapter so I hope I did well. Anyways, I hope you enjoy, leave a Review and tell me what you think and if you really like it, Follow and Favorite.**

 **Reviews:**

 **Firestorm337: Thank you good sir/madam *Bows***

 **Tobias97: Don't you worry buddy, you'll love that part.**

 **Disclaimer: You already know what I'm going to say.**

* * *

 **Chapter 11:**

Word of the bathroom incident spread like wildfire.

Wherever I went, campers pointed at me and murmured something about toilet water. Or maybe they were talking about how Annabeth was still drenched in the stuff.

She showed me a few more places: the metal shop (where campers forge their own armor and weapons), the arts and crafts room (where satyrs were sandblasting a giant marble statue of their god Pan), and the climbing wall, which actually consisted of two facing walls that shook violently, dropped boulders, sprayed lava, and clashed together if you didn't get to the top fast enough. I couldn't wait to try it out. Finally, we made it back to the canoeing lake, where the trail led back to the cabins.

"I've got training to do," Annabeth said flatly. "Dinner's at seven-thirty. Just follow your cabin to the mess hall."

"Annabeth, I'm really sorry about the toilets."

"Whatever."

I just sighed because I was never going to get through to her.

"You need to talk to the Oracle," Annabeth said.

"The what?"

"The Oracle. I'll ask Chiron."

I sighed at her cryptic talking and just stared down into the lake. I wasn't expecting anyone to be at the bottom so my heart jumped a bit when I saw two girls sitting cross-legged at the base of the pier, about twenty feet below. They wore blue jeans and shimmering green T-shirts, and their brown hair floated loose around their shoulders as minnows darted in and out. They smiled and waved as if I were a long-lost friend.

I smiled and waved back.

"Don't encourage them," Annabeth warned, "Naiads are terrible flirts."

I just rolled my eyes at her, "Whatever." She just huffed indignantly. "You never said who your godly parent was." I said changing topic.

"Cabin six."

Once again, I rolled my eyes, "All hail cabin six," I said sarcastically. "I meant your parents name."

Annabeth straightened. "Athena. Goddess of wisdom and battle."

I simply nodded my head unsure of what to do now. Thankfully, it was Annabeth that continued the conversation.

"How long have you known you were a demigod?" She asked.

I was a little hesitant to tell her, but I answered her anyway. "Ever since I was five." She looked surprised by that.

"How'd you figure it out?"

"I didn't," I told her remembering when I first met the Hunt, "I met a... group, that I came across in the woods and they told me about, well, me being a demigod."

She frowned a little then asked, "Why were you in the woods at the age of five?"

I mentally scolded myself for not choosing my words carefully. I wasn't sure whether I should tell her or not, but I realized that since she's a daughter of Athena she could probably figure it out anyhow.

"It's okay, you don't have to tell me." She said quickly.

"No, its fine," I reassured her, "My mum was killed by my stepdad one night and so, without any options, I ran away." I told her simply.

She looked at me sympathetically, "I'm sorry to hear that."

"Its fine. It happened years ago." But inside, I knew I really wasn't fine. I still wasn't over my mother's death and I wasn't sure I would be. I may have Hestia as a mum now, but it doesn't take away the fact that she's dead and I'll never see her again.

She must have realized it was a sore subject because she left it alone after that.

"What about you?" I asked. "What's your story?"

Annabeth bit her lip and pulled a leather necklace from under the collar of her T-shirt collar with five different colored clay beads. It was the same as Luke's except hers had a gold ring strung on it, like a college ring.

"I'm a year-rounder," she said. "I've been here since I was seven, my dad didn't really want me. So, I left. Haven't seen him since I was young."

I nodded. I knew she wasn't going to tell me more because I wasn't going to tell her more. "Do the beads mean anything?"

"Every August, on the last day of summer session, you get a bead for surviving another year." She told me. "I've been here longer than most counselors and they're all in college."

We got into another uncomfortable silence. "Back in the infirmary," I said, "You asked me something about the summer solstice."

Annabeth's shoulders tensed. "So, you do know something?"

I smiled apologetically, "Sorry, but I don't. It's just that I heard Grover and Chiron talking about it and some sort of deadline. I was hoping you knew something."

She clenched her fists. "I wish I knew. Chiron and the satyrs, they know but they won't tell me. Something is wrong on Olympus, something pretty major. Last time I was there everything seemed normal."

I remembered the letter my mum had given me, saying that she had trouble to attend to on Olympus. I thought about all the weird storms that had occurred during the year. Then I noticed that she said she was at Olympus.

"You've been to Olympus?"

"Some of us year-rounders. Luke, Clarisse and a few others," she said, "we took a field trip during the winter solstice. That's when the gods have their big annual council. But right after we visited, the weather got weird, as if the gods started fighting. A couple of times since, I've overheard satyrs talking. The best I can figure out is that something important was stolen. And if it isn't returned by the summer solstice, there's going to be trouble." She started looking a little more nervous now, "When you came, I was hoping... I mean Athena can get along with just about anybody, except for Ares. And of course, she's got the big rivalry with Poseidon. But I mean, aside from that, I thought we could work together. I thought you might know something."

Well she is going to be in for a massive surprise when she learns I am actually Poseidon's son. I was kind of hoping she never does find out.

"You okay?" She asked. I realized I must have spaced out or something.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said quickly. "I'd like to help, I really would, but I don't have a clue what's going on. I didn't even know where Mount Olympus was until Chiron told me during our tour."

She sighed and murmured to herself. "I've got to get a quest. I'm not too young, if they would tell me the problem-"

I could smell barbecue smoke coming from somewhere nearby. Annabeth must have heard my stomach growl. She told me to go on and that she'd catch me later.

I left her on the pier, tracing her finger across the rail like she was drawing a battle plan. She most likely was.

Back at cabin eleven, everybody was talking and horsing around, waiting for dinner. I noticed that a lot of the campers had similar features: sharp noses, upturned eyebrows and mischievous smiles. These must be Hermes' kids.

Thankfully, nobody paid me much attention as I walked in and towards my spot on the floor and plopped down.

Luke came over. He was, without a doubt, a son of Hermes. He had the same mischievous eyes and sharp nose as hos other brother and sisters.

"Found you a sleeping bad," he said. "I also stole you some toiletries from the camp store."

I don't think he was kidding about the stealing part.

"Thanks," I said.

"No prob," he sat next to me and leaned against the wall. "Tough first day?"

"Something like that," I said.

"Don't worry, it gets better." I wasn't sure, but the way he said it sounded more like he was trying to convince himself. And I was honestly surprised by the bitterness in his voice because he looked like a pretty easy going guy that could handle just about anything. "Plus, the campers here are mostly good people. After all, we're extended family, right? We got to take care of each other."

"Yeah, I guess so," I said, "Just something Annabeth said has been bothering me. Something about me being the one and having to go to the Oracle. Any idea what she means?"

Luke frowned. "I hate prophecies."

"What do you mean?"

His face twitched around the scar. "Let's just say I messed things up for everybody else. The last two years, ever since my quest to the Garden of Hesperides went sour, Chiron hasn't allowed anymore quests. Annabeth's been dying to get out into the world. She pestered Chiron so much he finally told her he already knew her fate. He'd had a prophecy from the Oracle. He wouldn't tell her the whole thing, but he said Annabeth wasn't destined to go on a quest yet. She had to wait until... somebody special came to the camp." I thought about what he said and couldn't help thinking that it could be me that was probably mentioned in the prophecy. "You shouldn't worry about it," he continued, "Annabeth likes to think that every new camper who comes through here is the omen she's been waiting for. Now, come on. It's dinnertime."

As soon as he said it, a horn from a conch shell blew in the distance. Though I'm not exactly sure how I knew it was a conch shell.

Luke yelled, "Eleven, fall in!"

The whole cabin, about twenty of us, filed into the commons yard. We lined up in order of seniority, with Luke up front, and me in the back. Campers came from other cabins too, except for the three cabins at the end and cabin eight, which I realized was the cabin to Artemis. I couldn't help rolling my eyes when I saw what color it was.

We marched up the hill towards the dining pavilion. Satyrs joined us from the meadow (which made me wonder where Grover was), Naiads emerged from the canoeing lake and dryads (tree nymphs) melted from trees.

At the pavilion, torches blazed around the marble columns. A central fire burned in a bronze brazier the size of a bathtub. Each cabin had its own table, covered in white cloth trimmed in purple. Four of the tables were empty, but elevens was way too overcrowded. I had to squeeze onto the edge of a bench with half my butt hanging off.

I saw Grover sitting at table twelve with Mr. D, a few satyrs, and a couple of plump blond boys who looked like Mr. D.

Chiron stood to one side, the picnic table being too small for a centaur.

Annabeth sat at table six with a bunch of her brothers and sisters, all with honey blond hair and gray eyes.

Clarisse sat behind me at Ares' table. I wasn't sure if she was over the toilet thing because she was laughing and belching with the rest of her siblings.

Finally, Chiron pounded his hoof against the marble floor of the pavilion, and everybody fell silent. He raised a glass. "To the gods!"

Everybody else raised their glasses. "To the gods!"

Wood nymphs came forward with platters of food: grapes, apples, strawberries, cheese, fresh bread, and barbecue. My glass was empty, but Luke said, "Speak to it. Whatever you want nonalcoholic, of course."

At Yancy, some guys made me try out a drink and I got addicted to it pretty quick, "Cherry coke." The glass filled with sparkling caramel liquid.

Then I had an idea. "Blue cherry coke." The soda turned a violent shade of cobalt. I took a sip. Perfect. I did what I always did, I drank a toast to my birth mother.

"Here you go, Percy," Luke said handing me a platter of smoked brisket.

Everyone got up and made the sacrifices to the gods. I followed behind my cabin. When I reached the fire, I sacrificed some of my food to Hestia, Artemis and of course my father Poseidon. I may be a little bitter to him, but I still hope that he sends me a sign that he actually listens or notices me.

When everybody had returned to their seats and finished eating their meals, Chiron pounded his hoof again for our attention.

Mr. D got up with a huge sigh. "Yes, I suppose I'd better say hello to all you brats. Well, hello. Our activities director, Chiron, says the next capture the flag game is Friday. Cabin five presently holds the laurels."

A bunch of ugly cheering from the Ares table.

"Personally," Mr. D continued, "I couldn't care less, but congratulations. Also, I should tell you that we have a new camper today. Peter Johnson." _That sounds familiar._

Chiron murmured something.

"Er, Percy Jackson," Mr. D corrected. "That's right. Hurrah, and all that. Now run along to your silly campfire. Go on."

Everyone cheered. We all headed down toward the amphitheater, where Apollo's cabin led the sing-along. We sang songs about the gods and ate s'mores and joked around. We finally departed back to our cabins and as soon as my head hit the pillow of my sleeping bag. I fell asleep instantly.

* * *

The next few days I fell into a routine that made me feel welcome at camp. I got lessons from satyrs, nymphs and Chiron.

Each morning I took Ancient Greek from Annabeth, and she was pretty cool when she wasn't being completely frustrating.

The rest of the day, I would rotate through outdoor activities.

Chiron was extremely impressed with my archery skills. I didn't use my bow given to me by Artemis because of obvious reasons.

During foot racing, the wood nymph instructor had beaten me but not by too much. The others told me not to worry about it because they've had plenty of practice running away from lovesick gods. But still, it was a little humiliating to be slower than a tree.

I could handle my own in wrestling, but Clarisse would always beat me.

It made counselors even more confused when the boy who had defeated the Minotaur flawlessly excel at canoeing.

I was close to bursting with laughter when I saw them struggling with who my godly parent was. They thought that maybe I could be Apollo's son with my skill with the bow, but I wasn't an early riser like the rest of Apollo's kids.

They thought with my resistance to fire it was possible I could be a child of Hephaestus, but I was absolutely horrid with metalwork.

They also thought I might be a child of Ares with my strength, or even a child of Athena with how much I knew of Greek mythology.

But the main reason they thought against that was because I looked nothing like any of the other campers. I was the only camper there with black messy unruly hair and sea green eyes.

Mum and I eventually did end up laughing about it.

I was disappointed that my dad still hadn't sent me a sign to show that he was watching over me but I was kind of used to it at this point.

It's now Thursday afternoon, three days after I'd awoken at Camp Half-Blood, I had my first sword-fighting lesson here and I was excited. Everybody from cabin eleven was gathered in the big circular arena, where Luke would be our instructor.

We started with basic stabbing and slashing, using some straw stuffed-dummies in Greek armor. I slashed them to pieces.

There was still one problem though. I still couldn't find a sword that felt right in my hands. I just used my sword because it was the best I could find.

We moved on to dueling in pairs. Luke announced he would be my partner, because I was the new guy.

"Good luck," one of the campers told me. "Luke's the best swordsmen in the last three hundred years."

I just grinned and said, "Let's hope he doesn't go easy on me then."

Just like I hoped, Luke didn't go easy on me, I blocked and parried all his strikes with only some difficulty. He really was a good swordsman. Luke looked both surprised and impressed that I was managing to keep up with him. He got some hits on me, but I also managed to get some hits on him too.

By the time he called a break, we were both a sweaty mess. Everybody swarmed the drinks cooler. I got myself some water and drank a bit and poured the rest over my head. Instantly I felt recharged and the sword in my hand felt perfectly balanced.

"Okay, everybody circle up!" Luke ordered. "If Percy doesn't mind, I want to give you a little demo."

The Hermes guys gathered around. Some were suppressing smiles, probably thinking about how I could be used as a punching bag, while others, who saw Luke and I spar earlier, looked on with great interest. Luke told everybody that he was going to demonstrate a disarming technique: how to twist the enemy's blade with the flat of your own sword so that he had no choice but to drop his weapon.

"This is difficult," he stressed. "I've had it used against me. No laughing at Percy, now. Most swordsmen have to work years to master this technique."

He demonstrated the move in slow motion. Sure enough, the sword clattered out of my hand.

"Now in real time," he said, after I'd retrieved my weapon. "We keep sparring until one of us pulls it off. Ready, Percy?"

I nodded and Luke came after me. I deflected his attack and continued blocking, until I saw my opening. I countered a thrust and stepped forward sending a thrust of my own. Luke deflected it easily, but I saw a change in his face. His eyes narrowed, and he started to press me with more force. We continued attacking. Slashing, stabbing, thrusting, parrying, blocking and countering. We were in a deadly dance, I was on the balls of my feet using my agility like the Hunters had taught me. I was very glad that I poured that bottle of water over my head.

I started to feel my energy wavering, so I figured, _What the heck?_

I tried the disarming maneuver.

My blade hit the base of Luke's and I twisted, putting my weight into a downward thrust.

Luke's sword rattled against the stones.

With a quick flourish, I stepped in close and held my sword at his throat.

It was dead quiet. Only the sound of heavy breathing coming from me and Luke could be heard.

I stepped back and lowered my sword smiling sheepishly and said, "Sorry."

For a moment, Luke was too stunned to speak. "Sorry?" His face broke into a grin. "By the gods, Percy, why are you sorry? Show me that again!"

I didn't really want to because most of the energy I had was gone. Plus, I didn't really want to look like a show-off. But everyone insisted.

We went at it again. Surprisingly, I managed to disarm him again. Then we went again. And again. And again. I was honestly surprised with how long I could hold my own against him.

We sparred one more time. This time, I wanted to try something a little bit different. I thrusted towards his head and as expected Luke raised his sword to block it. I moved my sword in a way that it was now caught in his cross guard. I then twisted my sword and sent his sword flying, passing over the heads of some of the campers and into the wall of the arena. I held my sword to his throat, the both of us breathing heavily and drenched in sweat.

The whole time the grin on his face never left. The other campers were looking at me dumbfounded. I only just noticed that we had attracted a huge crowd. They all started shouting and hollering and I just blushed rubbing the back of my neck.

"Percy!" Luke exclaimed. "Where have you learnt to fight like that?"

I just smiled sheepishly and shrugged my shoulders, "I don't know, it just came naturally."

Luke just smiled wider and said, "What could you possibly do with a balanced sword?"

* * *

Friday afternoon, I was sitting with Grover at the lake, resting from a near-death experience on the climbing wall. Grover had scampered to the top like a mountain goat. The lava had almost gotten me, but thanks to me being fireproof, I didn't get very burnt. My clothes weren't as lucky, but thankfully, they only had a few holes in them.

We sat on the pier, watching the naiads do underwater basket-weaving, until I got up the nerve to ask Grover how his conversation had gone with Mr. D.

His face turned a sickly shade of yellow. "Fine," he said. "Just great."

"So, you can still get your searcher's license?"

He looked at me nervously. "Chiron t-told you I want a searcher's license?"

"No, Annabeth told me," I corrected. "I asked her if she knew what your big plans were, she said that it's a satyr's dream to search for the lost god Pan. I put two and two together. So, did you get it?"

Grover looked down at the Naiads. "Mr. D suspended judgement. He said I hadn't failed or succeeded with you yet, so our fates were still tied together. If you got a quest and I went along also to protect you, and we both came back alive, then maybe he'd consider the job complete."

I brightened a little at that, "So there's still a chance, right?"

" _Blaa-ha-ha!_ He might as well have transferred me to stable-cleaning duty. The chances of you getting a quest… and even if you did, why would you want _me_ along?"

"Because you're my best friend," I told him simply.

Grover just stared glumly into the water. "Basket-weaving… must be nice to have a useful skill."

I wanted to reassure him that he had lots of talents, but I figured that would just make him more miserable. Instead, I opted for putting my arm around his shoulder.

We continued talking about what had happened during the week, then debated on the pros and cons of the different gods. I then asked him about a question that has been on my mind for a while.

"If the cabins are for, housing the gods' kids, then why are there cabins for the other gods if they're empty?"

"Well, number eight, the silver one," he said. "Belongs to Artemis and she vowed to be an eternal maiden. So, of course, no kids. The cabin is, you know, honorary. If she didn't have one, she'd be mad."

"And it holds her Hunters, right?" I asked.

"Yeah, how do you know about them?" He asked looking a little bit suspicious. I silently cursed myself.

"I've read about them," I quickly told him. "They were mentioned in the story of Orion and a few other ones."

He eyed me for a bit, but seemed to accept my answer. "Yeah, they come by sometimes and we have a traditional Hunters versus Campers game of capture the flag. They're undefeated with a fifty-six-win streak." He explained. I internally smirked at the last part.

I decided to get back on topic. "So, what about the three at the end?"

Grover tensed. I could tell we were now getting to a touchy subject. "Number two belongs to Hera," I know it was completely immature, but I snickered when he said that. "That's another honorary thing. She's the goddess of marriage, so of course she wouldn't go around having affairs with mortals. That's her husband's job."

I couldn't help it I burst out laughing, Grover cracked a smile.

"Number's one and three belong to Zeus and Poseidon." He started to shift his hooves uncomfortably.

I knew it was probably a touchy subject for him, but I was curious to know what had him like this. "Why are there cabins empty? I thought they had like, a million kids in the past."

He shifted on his hooves again. "About sixty years ago, after World War II, the Big Three made a pact never to sire any more heroes. Their children were just too powerful. They were affecting the course of human events too much, causing too much carnage. World War II, you know, that was basically a fight between the sons of Zeus and Poseidon on one side, and the sons of Hades on the other. The winning side, Zeus and Poseidon, made Hades swear an oath with them: no more affairs with mortal women. They all swore on the River Styx."

Thunder boomed.

"That's the most serious oath you can make."

Grover nodded.

"I'm guessing, that they didn't keep their oath."

Grover's face darkened. "Seventeen years ago. Zeus fell off the wagon. There was this TV starlet with a big fluffy eighties hairdo – he just couldn't help himself. When their child was born, a little girl named Thalia…" I tensed when I heard her name. That was the other girl that had been with Luke and Annabeth.

I had wondered why I didn't see her anywhere in camp, but I couldn't just ask because that would make some people suspicious. I was also shocked to learn that she was actually a daughter of Zeus, I continued listening to Grover's tale, "The Styx is serious about promises. Zeus himself got off easy because he's immortal, but he brought a terrible fate on his daughter. So, when Hades found out about her, he wasn't happy to learn that Zeus had broken the oath. Hades let the worst monsters out of Tartarus to torment Thalia. A satyr was assigned to be her keeper when she was twelve, but there was nothing he could do. He'd tried to escort her here with a couple of other half-bloods she'd befriended. They almost made it. They got all the way to the top of that hill."

He pointed across the valley, to the pine tree where I'd fought the Minotaur. "All three Kindly Ones were after them, along with a horde of hellhounds. They were about to be overrun when Thalia told her satyr to take the other two half-bloods to safety while she held off the monsters. She was wounded and tired, and she didn't want to live like a hunted animal. The satyr didn't want to leave her, but he couldn't change her mind, and he had to protect the others. So, Thalia made her final stand alone, at the top of that hill. As she died, Zeus took pity on her. He turned her into that pine tree. Her spirit helps protect the borders of the valley. That's why the hill is called Hals-Blood Hill."

I could only listen sadly to the story. It made me feel a few different emotions. It made me angry, at the gods for putting their kids into such horrible dangers. It made me sad, that Thalia had to suffer through so much for her father's infidelity. It also made me sad, that Annabeth and Luke could do nothing to save their friend. It also made me feel kind of guilty, because her story made my fight with the Minotaur seem like less than what it really was.

I had a new-found respect for Thalia. She was instantly my favorite hero. None of the heroes of old would have done what she did at her age.

I then realized that a Fury had come after me. Had Hades found me as well?

I decided it was a thought for later.

* * *

That night, after dinner. There was a lot more excitement than usual. At last, it was time for capture the flag.

When the plates were cleared away, the conch horn sounded and we all stood at our tables.

Campers yelled and cheered as Annabeth and two of her siblings ran into the pavilion carrying a silk banner. It was about ten feet long, glistening gray, with a painting of a barn owl above an olive tree.

From the opposite side of the pavilion, Clarisse and her siblings ran in with another banner, of identical size, but gaudy red, painted with a bloody spear and a boar's head.

I turned to Luke and yelled over the noise, "Are those the flags?"

"Yeah."

"Ares and Athena always lead the teams?"

"Not always," he said, "But often."

"What happens when another cabin captures the flag, do we repaint it or something?"

He grinned. "You'll see. First we have to get one."

"Whose side are we on?"

He gave me a sly look, as if he knew something I didn't. The scar on his face made him look almost evil in the torch light.

"We've made a temporary alliance with Athena. Tonight, we get the flag from Ares. And _you_ are going to help."

The teams were announced. Athena had made an alliance with Apollo and Hermes, the two biggest cabins. Apparently, privileges had been traded – shower times, chore schedules, the best slots for activities – in order to win support.

Ares had allied themselves with everybody else: Dionysus, Demeter, Aphrodite and Hephaestus. From what I'd seen, Dionysus's kids were actually good athletes, but there were only two of them.

Demeter's kids had the edge with nature skills and outdoor stuff but they weren't aggressive.

Aphrodite's sons and daughters, I wasn't too worried about. They mostly sat out every activity and checked their reflections in the lake and did their and gossiped.

There were only four of Hephaestus's kids, but they were big and burly from working in the metal shop all day. They might be a problem.

Lastly, was Ares cabin themselves. They were a dozen of the biggest, meanest, ugliest kids I had seen.

Chiron hammered his hoof on the marble.

"Heroes!" He announced. "You know the rules. The creek is the boundary line. The entire forest is fair game. All magic items are allowed. The banner must be prominently displayed, and have no more than two guards. Prisoners may be disarmed, but may not be bound or gagged. No killing or maiming is allowed. I will serve as referee and battlefield medic. Arm yourselves!"

He spread his hands, and the tables were suddenly covered with equipment: helmets, bronze swords, spears, ox hide shields coated in metal.

I looked at all the equipment not really sure what was my stuff. Thankfully, Luke helped me out.

"Here you go, Percy." He said handing me some equipment, "Chiron thought these might fit you. You're on border patrol."

I strapped on my armor which was a size too big and put on my helmet that had a blue horsehair plume on top like the rest of Athena's team. Ares and their allies had red plumes.

I felt kind of small in all the big equipment. Thankfully, they had given me my own sword.

Annabeth yelled, "Blue team forward!"

We cheered and shook our swords and followed her down the path to the south woods. The red team yelled taunts at us as they headed off toward the north. Ares was making it very clear that they were going to pulverize me.

I managed to catch up with Annabeth without tripping over the too big equipment. "Hey."

She kept marching.

I rolled my eyes.

"So, what's the plan?" I asked.

She just glanced at me and said, "Just watch Clarisse's spear. You don't want that thing touching you. Otherwise don't worry. We'll take the banner from Ares. Has Luke given you your job?"

"Border patrol. Care to elaborate?"

"It's easy. Stand by the creek, keep the reds away. Leave the rest to me. Athena always has a plan."

"It would be nice if we knew the plan though." I said.

She ignored me and pushed ahead, leaving me in the dust.

I sighed, "So glad you wanted me on your team."

The night air was warm and sticky. The woods were dark, with fireflies popping in and out of view. Annabeth had stationed me next to a little creek that gurgled over some rocks, alone, then she and the rest of the team scattered into the trees. I was kind of worried that she had figured out who my godly parent was.

Far away, the conch horn blew. I heard whoops and yells in the woods, the clanking of metal, kids fighting. A blue-plumed ally from Apollo raced past me like a deer, leaped through the creek, and disappeared into enemy territory.

I waited for a while doing nothing, when I heard a sound that sent a chill up my spine, a low canine growl, somewhere close by. I knew that sound. Hellhound. I raised my shield and readied my sword. The growling stopped and the presence disappeared.

I threw my shield and helmet away, because they were seriously limiting my movement, and scampered up a tree. I reached a branch and seconds later, five Ares warriors came yelling and screaming out the dark. They stopped when they realized that nobody was there. Clarisse was among them.

They looked around, probably searching for me, then Clarisse screamed in frustration and kicked my helmet away. "Where is he?! He was just here?!"

I smirked a little. They were standing in my element. I willed the water to wrap around one of the guys' legs and tripped him. He fell onto his front side with a splash.

The others quickly went over to his side putting them all directly under me. I grinned. Tome for a dramatic entrance. I willed the water to make splashing sounds in various spots around the creek. They formed a circle watching everywhere with cautious eyes.

"Where are you?!" Clarisse screamed. My grin only broadened.

I jumped from my spot from the tree and landed in the middle of their circle in the creek and willed the water to explode outwards pushing them all away.

They quickly turned on me weapons drawn. Clarisse was glaring at me through the slits of her helmet wielding a five-foot-long spear that's barbed tip sparkled with red light, I remembered Annabeth's warning about her spear. Her siblings had standard bronze swords.

"Destroy him!" Clarisse screamed.

They charged at me. The first Ares camper to reach me swung towards my head. I ducked under his swing and swung my sword at his legs with the flat of my blade knocking him off his feet and onto his butt. I blocked a strike from another Ares camper - I'll call him Ugly 2 and the guy in the water Ugly 1 – and in a quick flurry of strikes I knocked him off his feet too.

They had me quickly surrounded. Ugly 1 had gotten back to his feet. I got myself in a ready stance, waiting for someone to make the first move. Ugly 3 came at me and swung in a downward strike I blocked it and spun around using his momentum against him and causing him to stumble forwards, I parried a trust from Clarisse's spear and continued blocking, ducking and countering their strikes, I think I got cut in my arm, but it barely fazed me. I had to thank the Hunters later for their intense training. I started to get so into my fighting that I started using my water powers. Blasting them back and causing chaos.

Clarisse screamed at them, "Come on! He's just one puny kid!"

I knocked out Ugly 2 with a hit to his forehead from the pommel of my sword. I moved towards my shield that was conveniently facing arm-strap up and slammed my foot on the edge of it making it flip up. I caught it by the edge, turned and flung it straight into the chest of Ugly 4. I continued my onslaught of attacks on the Ares campers. I knocked out Ugly 2 with a blow to the head. It was now just Clarisse and Ugly 1.

They didn't look so confident in pulverizing me anymore.

I smirked at them. I did a flourish with my sword and held it out in front of me.

Ugly 1 backed away and said, "This is totally not worth it. I'm outta here!" He turned tail and ran back to his side of the creek.

"Get back here coward!" Clarisse screamed at him.

"You know Clarisse," I called out to her. She turned on me glaring hatefully.

"You should have just gone after the flag." She looked confused by that but before she could say anything.

Yelling and cheering and elated screaming could be heard. We both turned to the sound to see Luke racing toward the boundary line with the red team's banner lifted high, flanked by a couple of other Hermes guys and a few other Apollo guys were fighting off the Hephaestus kids.

The Ares campers started to come back from unconsciousness and Clarisse seemed to realize what was happening. "A trick!" She shouted. "It was a trick!"

They staggered after Luke, but it was too late. Everybody converged on the creek as Luke ran across into friendly territory. Our side exploded into cheers. The red banner shimmered and turned silver. The boar and spear were replaced with a huge caduceus, the symbol of cabin eleven. Everybody on the blue team picked up Luke and started carrying him around on their shoulders. Chiron cantered out from the woods and blew the conch horn.

The game was over. We'd won.

I was about to join and celebrate when I heard Annabeth's voice, right next to me in the creek and said, "Where did you learn to fight like that?!"

I looked around but didn't see her anywhere. The air shimmered, and she materialized, holding a Yankee's baseball cap as if she'd just taken it off her head.

"Nice plan," I said not the tiniest bit fazed that she appeared out of nowhere. "Using me as bait for Ares cabin."

She smiled proudly. "Like I said, Athena always has a plan. I came here to help you out, but you did fine on your own."

I blushed a little at her praise. She then looked at my wounded arm and asked, "How did you do that?"

I looked at her weirdly and said, "Do what?"

"Healing your arm. I saw one of them cut you."

I looked at my arm, and sure enough there was no cut. Just a scar that quickly faded to nothing. I looked down at my feet to see that I was still in the water.

I could tell Annabeth was thinking hard. She looked down at my feet, then at the campers I took down. "Step out of the water Percy."

She was onto me. I did as she said and instantly felt the energy rush out of me almost falling over by how tired I was feeling, but Annabeth caught me.

"Oh, Styx," she cursed. "This is _not_ good. I didn't want… I assumed it would be Zeus…"

She got it. She knew who my dad was.

The loud canine growl I heard earlier was back again, but it was much closer than before. A howl ripped through the forest.

The campers cheering died instantly. Chiron shouted in Ancient Greek, " _Stand ready! My bow!"_

Annabeth drew her sword.

There on the rocks just above us was hellhound the size of a rhino, with lava red eyes and hangs like daggers.

It was staring straight at me.

Nobody moved except Annabeth who yelled, "Percy run!"

She tried to step in front of me but the hound was too fast. It leaped over her and landed on top of me. I managed to keep its teeth from biting my face but I felt its claws digging into my torso straight through the armor. I wasn't thinking anymore, I just knew I had to stop the beast from hurting anyone. I blasted it with fire sending it flying off me whimpering. I got up ignoring the pain in my chest and made my bow and arrows appear. I notched a few arrows and fired it into the hellhound making it explode into gold dust.

I made my bow and arrows disappear again and fell onto my back. Annabeth was the first to recover. " _Di Immortales!"_ She exclaimed. "What just happened?!"

Chiron trotted over looking grim. "That was a hellhound, straight from the Fields of Punishment. Someone must have summoned it. Someone inside camp."

Luke came over. The banner in his hand forgotten, his moment of glory gone.

Clarisse yelled, "It's all Percy's fault! Percy summoned it!"

 _Because I would summon a monster to try and kill me,_ I thought sarcastically.

"Be quiet, child." Chiron told her. "Apollo! Get him to the infirmary!" He ordered.

"Wait!" Annabeth called. "Percy get in the water." She instructed me.

I did as she told me and got into the water. Immediately my wounds started to heal and close up. Everyone just watched in utter amazement.

"Look I can explain." I tried telling them but they weren't looking at me anymore. They were looking at something above me.

I looked up and what I saw made me gasp. It was a hologram. But it wasn't just one symbol.

It was fading but I saw it. An orange symbol of a Hearth fire, and above that a green trident with the flames from the Hearth dancing around the pole, both clashing together beautifully. I had been claimed, by both my parents.

"It is determined." Chiron announced.

All around me campers started kneeling, even the Ares cabin who looked rather reluctant.

"All Hail Percy Jackson, son of Hestia, goddess of the Hearth, Home and Family and Poseidon, earthshaker, stormbringer, god of seas."

I had joked with my mum that it would be priceless the face of the campers when they learned about who my parents were. But right now, I couldn't laugh, because there was only one thought going through my head.

 _My father had claimed me._

* * *

 **A/N That's the chapter. It was really long and I'm very sorry that it's late. But it was totally worth it. I really hope you enjoyed that chapter because I had fun writing it. I also want to say thank you to everyone who is reading my story because as of right now I have 5, 346 views on this story and that is just so AWESOME! Thank you again everybody. As always, leave a Review and tell me what you think of the chapter and if you really liked it Follow and Favorite.**

 **Goodbye my Greek geeks. Tide out.**


	12. I'm going on an adventure!

**Percy Jackson Son of Hearth and Sea: The Lightning Thief**

 **A/N Hello again everybody. Tide here. That's right you've guessed it. Chapter 12 is here. I do hope you're enjoying this story. I should also mention that there are hints to future books in my previous chapters and also in this chapter. I recommend that you read carefully and try and figure out what I could possibly have in store for the future. *grins wickedly* you will never see it coming (PM me or leave a Review to tell me what you think). As always, leave a Review and tell me what you think of my story and if you really like it, Follow and Favorite.**

 **Me: I refuse to say it.**

 **Artemis: Listen very closely** _ **male.**_ **If you do not say it I will kick you where it hurts and have you sing soprano for a week.**

 **Me: Come on Arty, you wouldn't really-**

 _ **Crack!**_

 **Me: *high pitched voice* Aaaaaaaagggggghhhhh!**

 **Artemis: Don't call me Arty! Now say it!**

 **Disclaimer: *still in high pitched voice* I do not own PJO Rick Riordan does.**

* * *

 **Chapter 12:**

Chiron had ordered everyone to go to bed and told me to accompany him to the Big House. The campers walked off muttering and whispering to themselves. I couldn't hear them, but I knew what they were talking about.

Chiron and I walked towards the Big House in silence. He had told Grover to go and wake up Mr. D.

We reached the Big House and went inside to the living room. I sat down on one of the couches provided and waited for the other camp director.

Mr. D then walked in, wearing fuzzy slippers and a hat with those pom-poms on top, looking very irritated, with Grover behind him looking very nervous.

When he saw me, he narrowed his eyes and said, "What has the brat done that is so important you had to wake me up for it?"

"He has been claimed," Chiron answered simply.

Mr. D just looked even more annoyed. "That's it?" He asked incredulously.

"He has been claimed by Poseidon _and_ Hestia," Chiron said again.

Mr. D's eyes bugged out of his head. "Well that explains why father is so mad," he muttered. "What did you bring him here for then?" He asked Chiron.

"I was hoping that he could answer some questions," Chiron said. He then turned to Grover and said, "Leave us."

He looked taken aback, "B-but sir-"

"Now!" Mr. D snapped at him. I looked at Grover sympathetically while he sent me an apologetic look, the he hurried out of the Big House.

Mr. D then sat in the couch opposite to me and made a diet coke can appear in his hand. He popped it open and started drinking out of it.

Chiron turned to me with a curious look in his eyes. "How long have you known?" I could hear the silent question in his tone. How long had I known my parents?

"Since I was five," I answered.

"What brought upon this realization?"

I told them the whole story. I told them about my mother being killed by my stepfather. I told them about running away and being guided by a voice in my head, that then lead me to Artemis and her Hunters. I told them about Hestia adopting me and convincing Artemis to let me stay in the Hunt so I could train. I told them about gaining the Hunts acceptance. I then told them about Hestia sending me to Yancy where I met Grover, "And you know the rest of the story," I said finishing my story.

For a while neither said anything. Both absorbing what I just told them. Finally, Chiron spoke up, "That is quite the tale." He then looked at Mr. D, "What do you make of it?"

"For now, I can't say anything." He said, "I must go to Olympus, to tell father of this news."

Chiron nodded his head, "Go back to your cabin, Percy." He told me, "We will call for you later in the week."

I was now walking back towards cabin eleven, still unable to process that my father had claimed me. I walked into the cabin, greeted with some scowls and nervous glances from some of the campers. I just wordlessly walked over to my spot on the floor. As soon as my head hit the pillow of my sleeping bag, I fell into a deep sleep.

The next morning, I had been transferred to cabin three. The inside had walls that glowed like abalone, with six bunk beds that had blue-green silk sheets on top of them.

I didn't have to share with anybody. I had plenty of room for all my stuff: The Minotaur's horn, one set of spare clothes, and some toiletries. I got to sit at my own dinner table, pick all my own activities, call "lights out" whenever I felt like it, and not listen to anybody else. I enjoyed the silence, because for almost all my life I had been surrounded by the Hunters.

While I enjoyed the silence, I also missed the noise of the Hermes cabin.

To make things even worse, the other campers were avoiding me like the plague. Nobody had mentioned the hellhound, but I got the feeling they were talking about it behind my back. It had scared them because it meant that monsters would stop at nothing to kill me and not even the camp borders could stop them.

I tried going to my mum to talk to her, but she wasn't by the Hearth. That was another reason campers were wary of me. I was the son of two gods who swore never to have children.

I had Ancient Greek lessons with Annabeth in the mornings, but she was a lot more distant. Every time I would say something, she would scowl at me like I had poked her between the eyes. After lessons, she would walk away muttering to herself, "Quest ... Poseidon? ... Dirty rotten ... Got to make a plan ... "

I was kind of upset that she was thinking of me as Poseidon's son instead of Hestia's.

During sword training, the other campers steered clear of me, everyone knew of how easily I had taken Ares cabin. Luke was the only one who offered to spar with me, he would push me beyond my limits telling me that I'll need all the training I could get.

While we were sparring, I had gotten frustrated because my sword was holding me back. I told Luke this.

"There's only one thing you can do." He told me.

"Oh, yeah. What's that?"

"You have to go see Beckendorf."

"Who's that?" I asked.

"He's the camps best blacksmith. He can make whatever you want from a lump of metal. Guaranteed he'll be able to make your sword balanced."

I decided to go see him. I arrived at cabin nine and knocked on the door.

I waited for a few seconds and then the door opened. A big African-American guy around the age of fourteen opened it.

"Percy, what can I do for you?" His voice was deep and smooth and he didn't sound like he wanted me to get lost.

"Hey, I'm looking for Beckendorf." I said.

He smiled and said, "Well you found him. So, what can I do for you?" He asked leaning on the door frame.

"Luke told me you were the best blacksmith at camp, and there aren't any swords in camp that feel balanced. So, I was wondering if you could help balance out my sword and maybe make it cooler as well." I said feeling slightly nervous he might not help me.

He smiled and said, "Sure thing. Follow me, Perce." He then lead me towards the armory. I told him about all the things that felt wrong about my sword while he nodded and would ask questions.

I had almost finished explaining everything about my sword when we reached the armory. I walked in with him finishing up the last of the details to the sword.

Beckendorf walked over to anvil and started getting things ready. "Alright, Perce," he said, "Just leave your sword on the table and I should it have it finished later today."

I put my sword on the table he pointed to thanked him for helping me out and left so he could do his thing.

Clarisse was also keeping her distance, except her venomous looks told me she still wanted to kill me for making her cabin look bad. I was honestly hoping she would punch or yell at me.

I was laying in my bunk doing nothing when I heard a knock on my door. I went over and opened it to see one of the Hermes kids standing there.

"Hey." I said.

"Hi," he answered back, "Beckendorf told me to let you know that your sword is finished."

I smiled brightly at that. "Alright, thanks." The Hermes camper quickly left to go do whatever it is he had to do. I went back inside my cabin and grabbed my pouch with drachmas in it. I then rushed off to the armory, eager to see my new sword.

I arrived at the armory in five minutes' flat, breathing heavily, but grinning from my excitement of a new sword. I knocked on the door and heard a faint, "Come in."

I walked in to see Beckendorf putting a few swords on the weapons rack. His eyes lit up when he caught sight of me, "Percy! Gimme a sec, just gotta put this stuff away." I just nodded my head still grinning.

Once he was done, he beckoned me to follow him. We walked towards the back of the armory and I started looking at all the various weapons. Spears, swords, axes, daggers, war hammers and plenty more. I was so enraptured in the various weapons that I didn't notice he was holding a sword out to me in both his hands.

He cleared his throat with a small smirk on his face. I smiled sheepishly. I then looked to his hands, the sword was sheathed, but from what I could tell that there wasn't a cross guard anymore. I took the sword from his hands like it was a newborn baby.

When I just stared at it Beckendorf got impatient and urged me to unsheathe it. Ever so slowly I pulled the sword from its vision prison, listening to the _sching_ sound it made. When it was halfway out I had gotten impatient, and pulled the whole thing out. I stared in awe at the blade in my hands, **(A/N We interrupt this program for a special bulletin. To have a better picture of the sword Google, sword of Achilles. Thank you)** It was a shiny bronze and at the base of the blade itself, there was a design of a flame going up and finishing near the point. The edges of the blade looked sharp enough to cut straight through a tree. I took an experimental swing. The sword felt perfect in my hands, it was like it was an extension of my arm.

"It's perfect," I said completely in awe.

Beckendorf looked extremely pleased, "I'm glad you like it. The sword is fireproof and I designed the sheath so you can strap it either to your back or your waist."

The blade in my hand was even better than I could have imagined.

"Now, normally," Beckendorf said, "A sword like that would cost quite a lot, but because you put on such a great show the other day, I'll let you have that on the house."

My eyes widened at that. Apparently, a sword made by Beckendorf was usually really expensive so to get one for free was just incredible. So obviously, I tried to pay for it, "What? No way man. I couldn't possibly just get a sword like this for free."

He wouldn't take no for an answer. I eventually convinced him to pay at least a drachma for it.

The next thing I did, was tear the straw dummies in the arena to shreds.

Later that night, after a big dinner from training so much with my new sword, I realized that I hadn't contacted the Hunters in a while. I went over to the sink in my cabin and turned the water on. I willed the water to move towards the window where moonlight was streaming in. I then turned on the water when I had decent amount. I went to the water being suspended in the air and put my left-hand underneath it. I made a fire ball appear and started heating up the water, causing it to boil.

Once I had a good amount of steam and a rainbow was visible, I fished out a drachma and muttered the prayer, "O Iris, goddess of the rainbow, accept my offering," I then flicked the coin into the rainbow and watched as it dissolved into the mist, showing that my offering was accepted, "Show me Zoë Nightshade, Lieutenant of the Hunters of Artemis." The mist started to flicker until an image appeared showing Zoë at the archery range shooting at some targets.

I grinned mischievously. Just before she could let loose another arrow I yelled, "Zoë!" She yelped and jumped a bit, letting go of the arrow and causing it to go off target. I started laughing.

Zoë turned to me and glared, "Dammit flame brain! Stop doing that!"

"Nice to see you too, Princess." I said still grinning.

She sighed exasperatedly and walked closer to the image like it was the worst thing she could possibly do.

"Oh, come on Zoë," I said, "Don't be like that."

She raised an eyebrow. "Don't be like what?" She said innocently, "I'm not being like anything."

"Then stop being so Zoë."

She rolled her eyes, but there was a smile on her face. "What's up flame brain?"

I shrugged my shoulders and said nonchalantly, "Nothing much, just beat five Ares campers during capture the flag, by myself."

"Uh huh," she said not believing me. "Right, what really happened?"

"What? You don't believe me?" I asked pouting a bit.

She chuckled a little. "So, how you are doing at camp?"

I told her everything that had happened. It felt good talking to someone I trusted again. By the time I finished, she looked absolutely stunned. When she didn't say anything for a while I said, "Close your mouth, Princess. You'll catch flies like that."

She quickly shut her mouth and glared at me. I just chuckled.

"That would explain why Lady Artemis is acting so strange," Zoë said.

"What's wrong with Lady Artemis?" I asked.

"She hasn't been focusing and looks like she's usually deep in thought about something. Whatever is happening on Olympus it must be big, I think you might be involved with it somehow."

I thought about what she said and agreed with her. Me being claimed by Hestia and Poseidon must have brought serious problems to Olympus it also explains why I haven't seen my mum around lately.

Zoë probably saw the worry on my face, "Look Percy, whatever it is. I wouldn't worry about it too much. It wouldn't do you any good to think about it. You've never been quite good at thinking anyway." She said smirking at the last part.

I nodded my head, then realized that she had insulted me. "Hey!" I cried indignantly.

She laughed that amazing laugh that was like twinkling in my ears and made my heart flutter. _Stop it Percy,_ I scolded myself, _She's a Hunter of Artemis._

The Iris-message started flickering a bit meaning that our call would have to end soon. We said our goodbyes and cut the message off. I extinguished the flame and willed the water to go down the drain of the sink. I got changed into me pajamas and went over to my bed and flopped down onto it, my fatigue finally catching up to me.

"Lights out," I muttered to myself. I closed my eyes and fell asleep in seconds. My sleep was not dreamless.

I was running along a beach in a storm. This time, there was a city behind me. Not New York. The sprawl was different and I couldn't see the Empire State Building. The buildings were spread farther apart, palm trees and low hills in the distance.

About a hundred yards down the surf, two men were fighting. They looked like those TV wrestlers some of the kids at Yancy watched, muscular, with big beards, and long hair. Both wore flowing Greek tunics, one trimmed in blue, the other in green.

They grappled each other, wrestled, kicked and head-butted, and every time they connected, lightning flashed, the sky grew darker, and the wind rose.

I had to stop them. I knew who those men were, and if I didn't, the end result would be disastrous. But the hared I ran, the more the wind blew me back, until I was running in place, my heels uselessly digging into the sand.

Over the roar of the storm, I could hear blue-robed man yelling to the green-robed man, _Give it back! Give it back!_ He sounded like a kindergartner fighting over a toy.

The waves got bigger, crashing into the beach, spraying me with salt water.

I yelled, _Stop it! Stop fighting!_

The ground shook. Laughter came from somewhere underneath the earth, and a voice so deep and evil it turned my blood to ice.

 _Come down, little hero,_ the voice crooned. _Come down._

The sand split beneath me, opening up a crevice straight down into the center of the earth. My feet slipped, and darkness swallowed me.

I woke up, sure I was falling.

I was still in bed in cabin three. My body told me it was morning, but it was dark outside, and thunder rolled across the hills. A storm was brewing. I hadn't dreamed that.

I heard a clopping sound at the door, a hoof knocking at the threshold.

"Come in?"

Grover trotted inside, looking worried. "Mr. D wants to kill ... I mean see you."

I stared at him, with a look that said, _Seriously?_

He blushed looking sheepish. _Or is it goatish in his case?_

I got dressed, relieved that they finally called me back. I was on the brink of insanity waiting for them to call me these past few days.

The other gods had probably debating on what to do with me and now Mr. D had come back with their verdict.

Over Long Island Sound, the sky looked like ink soup coming to a boil. A hazy curtain of rain was coming in our direction. I asked Grover if we needed an umbrella.

"No," he said. "It never rains unless we want it to."

I pointed to the storm. "Then what the heck is that?"

He glanced uneasily at the sky. "It'll pass around us. Bad weather always does."

I realized he was right. The whole week I'd been here, it had never been overcast. The few rain clouds I'd seen had skirted around the edges of the valley.

But this storm ... this one was huge.

At the volleyball pit, the kids from Apollo's cabin were playing a morning game against the satyrs. Dionysus's twins were walking around in the strawberry fields, making the plants grow. Everybody was going about their normal business, but they looked tense, keeping their eyes on the storm.

Grover and I walked up to the front porch of the Big House, my new sword that I still have yet to name, strapped to my back. Dionysus sat at the pinochle table, with Chiron across from him in wheelchair form, playing against invisible opponents - two sets of cards floating in the air.

"Well, well," Mr. D said without looking up. "Our little celebrity."

I waited, not risking making a retort.

"Come closer," Mr. D said. "And don't expect me to bow, mortal, just because Poseidon your parents are Hestia and old barnacle-beard."

A net of lightning flashed across the clouds. Thunder shook the windows.

"As long as you don't have to expect me to bow to you, we got nothing to worry about." I said unable to hold back a retort.

Chiron feigned interest in his cards. Grover cowered by the railing, his hooves clopping back and forth.

He looked at me irritated. "If I had my way," he said, "I would cause your molecules to erupt in my flames. We'd sweep up the ashes and be done with a lot of trouble. But Chiron seems to feel that it would be against my mission at this cursed camp: to keep you little brats safe from harm."

"Spontaneous combustion _is_ a form of harm, Mr. D." Chiron put in.

"Nonsense," Mr. D said. "Boy wouldn't feel a thing. Nevertheless, I've agreed to restrain myself. I'm thinking of turning you into a dolphin, sending you back to your father."

"Mr. D-" Chiron warned. I was close to whipping out my sword and decapitating the annoying god.

"Oh, all right," Mr. D relented. "There's one more option. But it's deadly foolishness." Dionysus rose, and the invisible players' cards dropped to the table. "I'm off to Olympus for another emergency meeting. If the boy is still here when I get back, I'll turn him into an Atlantic bottle-nose. Do you understand? And Perseus Jackson, if you're all smart, you'll see that's a much more sensible choice then what Chiron feels must you do."

Dionysus picked up a playing card, twisted it, and it became a plastic rectangle. A security pass.

He snapped his fingers. The air seemed to fold and bend around him. He became a hologram, then a wind, then he was gone, leaving only the smell of fresh pressed grapes behind.

Chiron smiled at me, but he looked tired and strained. "Sit, Percy, please. And Grover."

We did.

Chiron laid his cards on the table, a winning hand he hadn't gotten to use. "Tell me, Percy," he said. "What did you make of the hellhound?"

"I've faced my share of hellhounds," I said. "But none as large as that one."

"You'll meet worse, Percy. Far worse, before you're done?"

"Done ... with what?"

"You're quest, of course. Will you accept it?"

I glanced at Grover, who was crossing his fingers.

"What's the quest about?"

Chiron grimaced. "Well that's the hard part. The details."

Thunder rumbled across the valley. The storm clouds had now reached the edge of the beach. As far as I could see, the sea and sky were boiling together.

"Poseidon and Zeus," I said. "They're fighting over something valuable. Something was stolen, right?"

Chiron and Grover exchanged looks.

Chiron sat forward in his chair. "How did you know that?"

"The weather since Christmas has been weird, like the sea and sky are fighting." I said, "Then Annabeth told me about overhearing something about a theft. And I've been having dreams."

"I knew it," Grover said.

"Hush, satyr," Chiron ordered.

"But it his quest!" Grover's eyes were bright with excitement. "It must be!"

"Only the Oracle can determine." Chiron stroked his bristly beard. "Nevertheless, Percy, you are correct. Your father and Zeus are having their worst quarrel in centuries. They are fighting over something valuable that was stolen. To be precise: a lightning bolt."

"You don't mean-"

"Yes," Chiron said, looking grim. "Zeus's master bolt has been stolen."

I felt sick. I knew about the power of Zeus's master bolt. It was the first weapon crafted by the Cyclopes in the Titan war, the bolt that sheered the top of Mount Etna and hurled Kronos off his throne. It's said that it has enough firepower to make a human hydrogen bomb look like a firecracker.

"Who stole it?"

"You stole it."

I stared at him for a little while, feigned cleaning my ears then, "I'm sorry, _WHAT?!"_ I shouted incredulously.

"That is what Zeus believes. During the winter solstice, at the last council of the gods. Zeus and Poseidon had an argument. The usual nonsense: 'Mother Rhea always liked you best,' 'Air disasters are more spectacular than sea disasters,' etcetera. Afterward, Zeus realized his master bolt was missing, taken from the throne room from under his very nose. He immediately blamed Poseidon. Now, a god usurp another god's symbol of power directly - that is forbidden by the most divine laws. But Zeus believes your father convinced a human hero to take it."

"But I didn't-"

"Patience and listen, child," Chiron said. "Zeus has good reason to be suspicious. The forges of the Cyclopes are under the ocean, which gives Poseidon some influence over the makers of his brother's lightning. Zeus believes Poseidon has taken the master bolt, and is now secretly having the Cyclopes build an arsenal of illegal copies, which might be used to topple Zeus from his throne. The only thing Zeus wasn't sure about was which hero Poseidon used to steal the bolt. Now Poseidon has openly claimed you as his son. You were in New York during the winter holidays. You could have easily snuck into Olympus, Zeus believes he has found his thief."

"I've never even been to Olympus! I didn't even know where it was until you told me! Zeus is crazy!"

Chiron and Grover glanced nervously at the sky. The clouds didn't seem to be parting around us like Grover promised. They were rolling straight over the valley.

"Er, Percy ...?" Grover said. "We don't use the c-word to describe the Lord of the Sky."

"Perhaps, _paranoid."_ Chiron suggested.

"I don't care what you call him!" I exclaimed. "I didn't steal his master bolt. I've never even been in contact with my father!" I took a few deep breaths to calm myself. "What about my mother?"

"Zeus believes she is working with Poseidon." Chiron said. "Both have denied stealing it. Zeus and Poseidon have been arguing for months, threatening war, and now that you have come into the picture Zeus is absolutely convinced that you are the thief."

"It wasn't me though, I was with the Hunters!"

"More fuel to Zeus's fire, he is now convinced that Artemis is working with Poseidon and helped sneak you into Olympus."

I screamed in frustration and pulled at my hair. "What about the campers that were actually there during the solstice meeting?" I asked, "It's possible it could be one of them."

Chiron and Grover's eyes widened, like it was the first time they thought of this. "While it is possible," Chiron said. "It must be you that returns the bolt to Zeus."

I thought over what he said and understood what he was trying to say. "A peace offering, right? A son of Poseidon returning the bolt to quell his anger."

Chiron nodded.

"Then where do I find the bolt?" I asked.

"So, you accept the quest?" Chiron asked me, "I can only tell you more if you make it officially your quest."

"I'll do it," I said with a strong determination to prove my parents' innocent.

Grover beamed at me.

"Then it is time you consulted the Oracle." Chiron said, "Go upstairs, Percy Jackson, to the attic. When you come back down, assuming you're still sane, we will talk more."

Four flights up, the stairs ended at a green flap door.

I pulled the cord. The door swung down, and a wooden ladder clattered into place.

The warm air above, smelled like mildew and rotten wood and something else ... a smell I remembered from Biology class. Reptiles. The smell of snakes.

I held my breath and climbed up.

The attic was filled with Greek hero junk: armor stands covered in cobwebs; once bright shields pitted with rust; old leather plastered with stickers saying **ITHACA, CIRCE'S ISLE** , and **LAND OF THE AMAZONS**. One long table was stacked with glass jars filled pickled monster limbs - severed hairy claws, huge yellow eyes, etc. A dusty mounted trophy of what I guessed was a Hydra's head was on the wall. The plaque read: **HYDRA HEAD #1, WOODSTOCK, N.Y., 1969.**

By the window, sitting on a wooden tripod, was the most gruesome momentum of all: a mummy. Not a wrapped in bandages and cloth-kind mummy, but a human female body shriveled to a husk. She wore a tie-dyed sundress, lots of beaded necklaces, and a headband over long black hair. The skin of her face was leathery and thin over her skull, and her eyes were glassy white slits, as if the real eyes had been replaced with marbles. She'd been dead a long, long time.

Suddenly, she sat up in her stool and opened her mouth. A green mist poured from her mouth, coiling over the floor, in thick tendrils, hissing like thousands of snakes. I heard the trap door slam shut behind me.

 _No way out._

Inside my head, I heard a voice. It wasn't warm and soothing like my mother's when she guided me, it was hoarse and raspy and it slithered around my brain with a power that reminded me of the Three Fates.

 _I am the spirit of Delphi, speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python. Approach seeker and ask._

I wanted to just say, _Nope, wrong door, just looking for the bathroom._ But I steeled my nerves and asked it my question. "How do I bring back Zeus's master bolt?"

The mist swirled and thickened, collecting right in front of me. There were four images of people I knew in them. My mothers, Annabeth and Smelly Gabe.

Hestia spoke to me first with the raspy voice: _You shall go west and face the god who has turned._

Next was Annabeth to speak: _You shall find what was stolen and see it safely returned._

Next was Smelly Gabe: _You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend._

Lastly, was my mum Sally Jackson: _And you shall fail to save what matters most in the end._

The figures began to dissolve. At first I was too stunned to speak, but as the mist retreated, coiling into a huge green serpent and slithering back into the mouth of the mummy, I cried, "Wait! What do you mean? What friend? What will I fail to save?"

The tail of the mist disappeared into the mummy's mouth. She reclined back against the wall. Her mouth closed tight, as if it hadn't been opened in hundreds of years.

The attic was silent again, abandoned, nothing but a room full of mementos.

My audience with the Oracle was over.

"Well?" Chiron said.

I slumped into a chair at the pinochle table. "She said I would find what was stolen."

Grover leaned forward, chewing on the remains of a tin can excitedly. "That's great!"

"What did the Oracle say _exactly?"_ Chiron pressed. "This is important."

"My ears were still tingling from the reptilian voice. "She said, I would go west and face the god who has turned, I shall find what was stolen and see it safely returned."

"I knew it," Grover said.

"There's more," I told them. I didn't want to say this part because it made me kind of uneasy, but I did anyway. "You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend, and fail to save what matters most in the end."

Chiron and Grover both visibly paled at that.

"That's not good," Grover said.

"Let us not dwell on it too much," Chiron said. "Prophecies often have double meanings, we will not truly know what happens until the events come to pass."

I nodded my head, feeling slightly better by his words but not by much. "So, who's the god in the west?" I asked.

"Ah, think, Percy," Chiron said. "If Zeus and Poseidon were to wage war against each other, who stands to gain?"

"Someone else who wants to take over?"

"Yes, quite. Someone who harbors a grudge, who has been unhappy with his lot since the world was divided eons ago, whose kingdom would grow powerful with the deaths of millions. Someone who hates his brothers for forcing him into an oath, an oath that both of them have now broken."

I thought about my dreams and the voice that I heard, an evil voice that came from underground.

"Hades."

Chiron nodded. "The Lord of the Dead is the only possibility."

A scrap of aluminum dribbled out of Grover's mouth. "Whoa, wait. Wh-what?"

"A Fury came after Percy," Chiron reminded him. "She watched the young man until she was sure of his identity, then tried to kill him. Furies only obey one lord: Hades."

"Yes, but-but Hades hates _all_ heroes," Grover protested. "Especially if he has found out Percy is a son of Poseidon and Hestia ..."

"A hellhound got into the forest," Chiron continued. "Those can only be summoned from the Fields of Punishment, and it has to be summoned from within the camp. Hades must have a spy here. He must suspect Poseidon will try to use Percy to clear his name. Hades would very much like to kill this half-blood before he can take on the quest."

Chiron made sense with his explanation, but there was something off about the whole thing. I wasn't sure what it was but I could tell that there was just something we were missing.

"But a quest to ..." Grover swallowed. "I mean couldn't the master bolt be in some place like Maine? Maine's very nice this time of year."

"Hades sent a minion to steal the master bolt," Chiron insisted. "He hid it in the Underworld, knowing full well that Zeus would blame Poseidon. I don't pretend to understand the Lord of the Dead's motives perfectly, or why he chose this time to start a war, but one thing is certain. Percy must go to the underworld, find the master bolt, and reveal the truth."

I thought about a time when I was in the Hunt. When I was still five, and grieving for my mother. I had asked my new mother about the underworld and if a hero had ever brought someone back from the dead. She had told me that one was close, but none had succeeded in doing so. This could finally be my chance to get her back.

Grover had started eating pinochle cards like they were potato chips. Poor guy had to go on a quest with me to the underworld so he could get his searchers license and look for Pan.

"Grover," I said, "You don't have to go if you don't want to. I can't ask that much of you."

"Oh ..." he shifted his hooves uncomfortably. "No ... it's just that satyrs and underground places ... well ..."

He took a deep breath, then stood, brushing the shredded cards and aluminum bits off his shirt. "You saved my life, Percy. If ... if you're serious about wanting me along, I won't let you down."

"All the way G-man," I turned to Chiron. "How many people are allowed on a quest?"

"Usually it's three," Chiron said. "Why do you ask?"

During our conversation, I noticed the slight shimmer in the corner of my eye again. When I focused, it made out the shape of a figure. I realized who it was by remembering the capture the flag game.

I turned towards where I could see the shimmer and said, "So how about it Wise Girl? Want to go on an adventure?"

The air shimmered and Annabeth stood there wide-eyed, and what I think was a blush on her face, holding her Yankee's cap. "How did you-"

"There was an annoying shimmer in the corner of my eye," I said smirking a little.

She just glared at me, "I've been waiting my whole life for a quest, Seaweed Brain. Poseidon and Athena don't mix... but there's nothing wrong with Hestia and Athena." I smiled at that. She then turned to Chiron, "I'm in."

I stood up. "Then that makes three. So, where is the underworld?" I asked Chiron.

"Like Olympus," Chiron said, "The entrance to the underworld moves with the heart of the west. Right now, it's in Los Angeles."

"How do we get there?" I asked.

"We can take you as far as the bus terminal in Manhattan. After that you're on your own, and do not use any kind of air travel." Chiron informed us.

"Right. Son of Poseidon and all that."

"Yes, be ready this afternoon. You should all start packing your things now, no time to waste."

It didn't take me too long to pack. All I had was, my sword that was strapped to my back, my bows and arrows and an extra change of clothes and a toothbrush. I left my Minotaur horn in my cabin. I decided to attach my quiver to my right hip so it didn't get stuck on my sword.

The camp store loaned me twenty drachmas. Added with the drachmas I had, it gave me thirty-four drachmas. Combined with Annabeth's and Grover's we had a total of sixty-eight drachmas.

He gave Annabeth and me each a Ziploc bag of ambrosia and a canteen of nectar, to be used only in emergencies, if we were seriously injured. It was god food, Chiron reminded us. It would cure us of almost any injury, but it was lethal to mortals. Too much of it could make a half-blood feverish. An overdose could cause us to burst into flames.

Annabeth was bringing her magic Yankee's cap, which she told me had been a twelfth-birthday gift from her mum.

She carried two books. One was one I found her reading the other day: _Peter Johnson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief._ The other was a book on famous classical architecture, both were written in Ancient Greek, to read when she got bored, and a long bronze knife, hidden in her shirt sleeve. I noticed that it was the same knife she had carried when I first saw her, but I wasn't sure if I should ask her about it.

Grover wore his fake feet and his pants to pass as a human. He wore a green Rasta-style cap, because when it rained his curly hair flattened and you could just see the tips of his horns. His bright orange backpack was full of scrap metal and apples to snack on. In his pocket was his reed pipes that his daddy goat had carved for him, even though he only knew two songs: Mozart's Piano Concert No. 12 and Hilary Duff's "So Yesterday", both of which sounded pretty bad on reef pipes, and also confirming that he did indeed play Hilary Duff when we were fighting the Minotaur.

We waved goodbye to the other campers, took one last look at the strawberry fields, the ocean, and the Big House, then hiked up Half-Blood Hill to the tall pine tree that used to be Thalia, daughter of Zeus.

Chiron was waiting for us in wheelchair form, the surfer dude I seen when I was recovering in the infirmary was standing next to him. According to Grover, he was the camp's head of security. He supposedly had eyes all over his body so he could never be surprised. Today, though, he was wearing a chauffeur's uniform, so I could only see extra peepers on his eyes and hands.

"This is Argus," Chiron told me. "He will drive you into the city and, er, well, keep an eye on the things."

I heard footsteps somewhere down the hill. I turned to see Luke running up, carrying what looked like basketball shoes.

"Hold up friend!" He called. A shudder went through my spine when he said that, but I just shrugged it off. "Hey," he panted once he reached us. "Glad I caught you."

Annabeth blushed the way she always did when Luke was around.

"Just wanted to say good luck," Luke told me. "And I thought ... um, maybe you could use these."

He handed me the sneakers which looked pretty normal. But when I touched them I felt a cold chill go through my body. It was only there for about a split second so I thought it was just the wind.

Luke said, " _Maia!"_

White bird's wings sprouted out of the heels, startling me so much, I dropped them. The shoes flapped around on the ground until the wings folded up and disappeared.

"Awesome!" Grover said.

Luke smiled. "These served me well when I was on my quest. Gift from Dad. Of course, I don't use them much these days ..." Luke's expression turned sad.

I wasn't sure what to say. I knew that Luke's quest had turned out bad and all of this was giving me an uneasy feeling. But Luke had been nothing but helpful during my time at camp and I was grateful for that.

"Um, thanks." I said.

"Listen, Percy," Luke looked uncomfortable. "A lot of hopes are riding on you. So just ... kill some monsters for me, okay?"

We shook hands. Luke patted Grover's head in between his horns, then gave a goodbye hug to Annabeth who looked like she might pass out.

After Luke was gone, I said to her. "You're hyperventilating."

"Am not."

"Whatever you say Wise Girl."

She blushed even more. Then huffed in frustration, stomped her foot, crossed her arms and faced away from me.

I just chuckled at her silly antics. I picked up the shoes and had another bad feeling, but it wasn't like the other ones, it was more of a realization. "I won't be able to use these, will I?" I asked looking at Chiron.

He shook his head. "Luke meant well, Percy. But taking to the air ... that would not be wise for you."

I nodded, disappointed, but then I got an idea. "He Grover. You want a magic item?"

His eyes lit up. "Me?"

Pretty soon we'd laced the shoes to his fake feet and we had the world's first shoe flying goat boy ready for take-off.

" _Maia!"_ He shouted.

He got off the ground okay, but then fell over sideways so his backpack dragged through the grass. The winged shoes kept bucking up and down like tiny broncos. Annabeth and I laughed.

"Practice," Chiron called after him. "You just need practice!"

"Aaaaa!" Grover went flying sideways down the hill like a possessed lawn mower down towards the valley.

Annabeth and I were clutching our stomachs and tears were forming in the corners of our eyes from laughing.

Grover then came back up the hill still being dragged by the shoes.

" _Maia!"_ I yelled. Unfortunately for Grover, when I said that the shoes had lifted him upside down so they dropped Grover on his head. He got up blushing furiously with me and Annabeth still snickering a little. He walked to my side and we all turned to Chiron who was looking very amused.

"I wish you all the best of luck," Chiron told us. "I only wish I could have trained you more."

"That's okay. I just wish-" I stopped myself because I was about to sound like a brat. I was wishing my dad had given me a cool magic item to help on the quest, like Luke's flying shoes, or Annabeth's invisible cap.

Chiron then looked like he just remembered something. "By the gods! What am I thinking?" He said. "I can't let you go without this."

He pulled a pen out of his pocket and handed it to me. It was an ordinary pen ballpoint pen, with a bronze shaft and a black removable cap.

I stared at him incredulously. Grover and Annabeth copying my expression.

"That is a gift from your father," Chiron explained. "I have kept it for years not knowing you were who I was waiting for. But the prophecy is clear to me now. You are the one. Plus, it wouldn't hurt to have a concealed weapon. It may hurt for the monsters, but not for you."

I remembered the field trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, when I'd vaporized my demonic math's teacher. Chiron had thrown me a pen that turned into a sword. Could it be?

I took off the cap, and the pen grew longer and heavier in my hand. In half a second, I held a shimmering bronze sword, with a leaf shaped double-edged blade with a small trident engraved at the base of it, a leather-wrapped grip, and a flat hilt riveted with gold studs and a name engraved into it. The sword was perfectly balanced in my hand. Annabeth and Grover's jaws went slack.

"Its name is-"

" _Anaklusmos,"_ I cut Chiron off, reading the engraving. "Riptide." **(Hey that's me! :))**

I stared at it, admiring the workmanship. Whoever forged the sword must have been an excellent blacksmith.

"Now recap it." Chiron told me.

I put the cap on the tip of the sword and instantly it reverted back to a pen. I tucked in my pocket, a little nervously, I had lost plenty of pens during my time at Yancy so I was kind of nervous about losing it now.

"You can't." Chiron said.

"Can't what?"

"Lose the pen," he said. "It is enchanted. It will always reappear in your pocket. Try it."

I was wary, but I threw the pen as far as I could down the hill and watched it disappear in the grass.

"It may take a few moments," Chiron told me. "Now check your pockets."

Sure enough, the pen was there.

"Coolest-" Annabeth started.

"-sword-" Grover continued.

"-ever." I finished.

I put Riptide back in my pocket. While I was glad that my dad had given me a gift, I was still annoyed that only now when he needed me did he take notice of me, and besides, I already had my other sword.

We said our final goodbyes to Chiron and walked towards Thalia's tree. Just before we walked past it I put my arm in front of Annabeth and Grover stopping them. I turned so I could face them.

"Whoa guys," I said. "We walk past that tree and the quest is official. Our lives are on the risk and we're a target for monsters everywhere. So, are you ready?"

They glanced at each other looked back to me and smiled. "Let's do this."

I turned back around and looped my arms with them. Then together we stepped out of camp borders and into the dangerous world where the unexpected lurked.

We then made our way down the hill to the white camp van with Argus behind us jingling the car keys. I turned one last time to the pine tree. Chiron was now in horse form, holding his bow high in salute. Just your typical summer-camp send off by your typical centaur.

* * *

 **A/N *high pitched voice* Hello everyone. Yes, I know this chapter is late, but I accidentally deleted a lot of my work when writing this so I had to start again. I also need your help with a name for Percy's new sword so Review some suggestions. Now what did you think of it? Love it? Hate it? Leave a Review and tell me what you think and if you really like it, Follow and Favorite.**

 **Goodbye my Greek geeks. Tide out.**


	13. The wheels on the bus go boom boom boom!

**Percy Jackson Son of Hearth and Sea: The Lightning Thief**

 **A/N *high pitched voice* Greetings, humans. Tide here. I'm so happy to see that so many people love my story. 103 Followers! That's awesome! That might not seem like much, but that is an awesome milestone for me. Thank you everyone who is reading this, it means so much to me. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter, leave a Review tell me what you think, and if you really like it, Follow and Favorite.**

 **Reviews:**

 **Tobias97: *smiles sheepishly* Um... yes. I was hoping to have it out between 9-11 pm AWST.**

 **Ninja57: Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it.**

 **SuitedClown: *rolls eyes* Of course you forgot your password.**

 **Firestorm337: ¿Puedes hablar español? Increible!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own PJO Rip Riordan does.**

 **Artemis:** _ **Male!**_

 **Disclaimer: Rick Riordan! Rick Riordan owns it!**

 **Chapter 13:**

Argus drove us out of the countryside and into western Long Island. During the trip, I had asked Argus if he had any CD's on a band, that I came to like during my time at Yancy, called AC/DC. He understood immediately.

Annabeth just gave me a look that said, _Seriously?_ I just grinned and started singing along to the song. Grover joined a little while after. Annabeth just sat there crossing her arms.

Grover and I exchanged looks and came to a silent agreement. _Make Annabeth sing._ We looked at Annabeth and sang louder.

Annabeth looked at us irritated. "I'm not singing."

Argus saw what we were doing and turned up the volume. We sang louder.

She got even more irritated. "I'm not doing it Percy!"

Argus started drumming his hands on the steering wheel and bobbing his head.

She looked conflicted.

When the pause for the chorus came on, her willpower broke.

"I'M ON THE HIGHWAY TO HELL!" We sang together, raising our fists in the air, bobbing our heads and just rocking out.

When the song had finished, we laughed at our ridiculousness.

"Again?" I asked.

"Uh-uh, no way," Annabeth refused. "I'm not singing again."

"Again," I stated, not listening to her complaints. "Argus."

He smiled and one of his eyes on the back of his neck, winked at me, then he played the song again.

Traffic slowed us down in Queens. By the time we got into Manhattan, it was sunset and it started to rain.

Argus dropped us off at the Greyhound Station on the Upper East side. Not too far away from my old apartment. He helped us unload our bags, made sure we had our bus tickets, then drove away, the eye on the back of his hand opening to watch us as he pulled out of the parking lot.

I thought about how close I was to my old apartment. I thought about what my mum and I would be doing when I was younger, then I thought about what we would be doing right now if she was still alive. We would probably be sitting around our dining table eating blue cookies after she had come home from the candy store she used to work at.

Grover must have read my emotions because he sent me a worried look. I just smiled and waved him off.

We eventually got restless waiting for the bus and decided to play some Hacky Sack with one of Grover's apples. We played for a few minutes, Annabeth and I bouncing it off of various types of body parts. The game ended when I tossed the apple too close to Grover's mouth, and in one mega goat bite, our Hacky Sack was gone - core, stem and all.

Grover blushed. He tried apologizing but me and Annabeth were too busy laughing.

Finally, the bus came. As we stood in line, Grover started looking around and sniffing the air like he could smell his favorite school cafeteria delicacy- enchiladas.

"You smell something?" I asked.

"Yeah," he replied tensely. "Something."

I was relieved when we finally got on board and found seats together in the back of the bus. We stowed our backpacks. Annabeth kept slapping her Yankee's cap nervously against her thigh. As the last passengers got on, Annabeth clamped her hand onto my knee.

"Percy."

An old lady had just boarded the bus. She wore a crumpled velvet dress, lace gloves, and a shapeless orange-knit hat that shadowed her face, and she carried a big paisley purse. When she tilted her head, her black eyes glittered and my heart skipped a beat.

It was Mrs. Dodds. And she had brought her sisters with her.

I scrunched down in my seat. The other two wore clothes similar to Mrs. Dodds: one in a green hat with an orange dress, the other in a purple hat with a green dress.

They sat in the front row, right behind the driver. The two in the aisle crossed their legs across the walkway making an X. It was casual enough, but it sent a clear message: nobody leaves.

The bus pulled out of the station, and we headed through the slick streets of Manhattan.

"This is not good," I whispered.

"You think?" Annabeth whispered back.

"All three of them," Grover whimpered. " _Di Immortales!"_

"It's okay," Annabeth said obviously thinking hard. "The Furies. The three worst monsters of the Underworld. No problem. No problem. We'll just slip out the windows."

I wanted to retort that, _I thought we were supposed to call them Kindly Ones,_ but I figured that wasn't important right now. "They don't open," I said instead.

"A back exit?"

Grover shook his head negative. It wouldn't really matter anyway, we were already on Ninth Avenue headed for the Lincoln Tunnel.

Annabeth looked desperate. "Roof exit?"

I looked up and down the roof. "Nothing."

We hit the Lincoln Tunnel - not literally - and the bus went dark except for the running lights down the aisle. It was eerily quiet without the sound of rain.

Mrs. Dodds got up. In a flat voice, as if she'd rehearsed it, announced to the whole bus: "I need to use the restroom."

"So do I." Said the second sister.

"So do I." Said the third.

 _The restroom?_ I thought incredulously, _On a bus? Does anyone think that's weird?_

I yelled out my thoughts. "The restroom?! On a bus?! Are you serious?!"

They stopped in their tracks and glared at us. Grover and Annabeth gained panicked looks.

"Madam's," the bus driver said. "Please return to your seats."

The Fury closest to him, turned and hissed at him.

The driver recoiled, jerking the wheel to the side. "What the?!"

The passengers screamed and the Furies were thrown to the side.

I got another one of my crazy ideas. I lifted my right hand and focused on a power my mother had taught me. I willed the Mist to bend and shape to my will and then I snapped my fingers. A loud high-pitched sound was made and a ripple of air could be seen from where I snapped my fingers.

The passengers and driver eyes were glazed over. I knew it had worked.

"Aaagh! Those old ladies have guns!" I screamed in a panicked voice pointing towards their handbags.

Results were instant. The mortals all started screaming and yelling. The Furies were trying to deny that they were carrying guns, but it was too late, the mortals were totally convinced, unfortunately, so was the driver. He was screaming and yelling, making the bus weave and turn and making everyone on the bus fly around in their seats. The Furies had now revealed their true forms causing even more panic and chaotic driving.

I was sitting next to a window seat, so when the driver pulled hard one way, I got squished between the window and Annabeth. I blushed despite the situation because her cheek was right up against my cheek.

"Percy!" Annabeth screamed. "This was a horrible plan!"

I almost agreed with her.

We burst out of the Lincoln Tunnel, plowing cars out of our way, with everyone screaming bloody murder. But my plan was sort of working. The Furies couldn't get to us because of the mortals and the weaving bus, but neither could we.

The driver then turned onto a road that had the Hudson river to our right and nothing but woods on our left.

I got another idea.

"Pull the emergency break!" I screamed.

The driver pulled the emergency break making the bus wail, spin a full three-sixty and crash into the trees. The emergency lights came on. The door flew open. The bus driver was the first one out, the passengers yelling as they stampeded after him. The Furies regained their balance and stalked their way to us, their handbags now long whips made of fire. Mrs. Dodds came up the aisle, while the other two came up on the top of the bus seats.

We untangled ourselves from each other and got ourselves ready for a fight. Annabeth drew her knife, I unsheathed my sword, and Grover pulled out a tin can.

The Furies hesitated. Then all as one, we turned to him with an incredulous look.

"What?!" Grover exclaimed.

We all turned back to facing each other.

"Where is it?" Mrs. Dodds hissed.

"What?" We asked.

"We know you stole it. Give it back and you will suffer less," The other Fury said.

"We haven't stolen anything!" Annabeth said.

"We stole a car." I stated.

Annabeth glared at me. "Not helping Percy!"

"You cannot lie to us," The last Fury said.

I had enough. I charged at them.

The Fury to my left, lunged at me with her fangs and talons. I slashed at her. She screamed and exploded into gold dust. I could hear the mortals outside screaming.

Mrs. Dodds leaped back out of range from my sword, but not out of range from Grover's tin cans, while the other Fury lashed her fiery whip at my sword arm, catching my wrist. I was once again thankful for being fireproof. I wrapped my arm around the whip and pulled as hard as I could.

The Fury was pulled forwards and landed in between the seats of the bus. She suddenly exploded into gold dust startling me a bit. I looked behind me. Grover was still throwing tin cans at Mrs. Dodds, but Annabeth was nowhere to be seen. I realized she had used her invisibility cap.

I turned back to Mrs. Dodds. She lunged at me but was intercepted by something invisible and slammed into the side of the bus. Annabeth shimmered into existence, her Yankee's cap on the floor. She was wrestling with Mrs. Dodds, pinning her arms to her side.

Mrs. Dodds managed to push Annabeth to the other side of the bus, still in a wrestler's grip. I ran to help her.

I wrapped the whip around her neck and pulled her off Annabeth. I then wrapped the rest of the whip around her body tying her down.

I was about to finish her off, but she screamed, "Zeus will destroy you! Hades will have your soul!"

Fed up with being blamed by Zeus I stabbed her in the chest. Once again, she exploded into gold dust.

I felt the hairs on the back of my neck standing up. I screamed at the others, "Grab our stuff and go!"

We looked for our bags, but there were plenty of other bags on the ground from the bus being thrown around that it made it harder to see them. We gave up on finding them and bolted out of the bus. Annabeth picking up her hat as we went. Thunder boomed overhead and just as we got off, lightning struck the bus making it explode. We fell forward and landed in the grass as mortals screamed.

"Come on!" I urged, "Let's get out of here!"

The three of us scrambled to out feet and sprinted off into the dark woods, with rain pouring, people screaming and a flaming bus behind us.

 **A/N That's the chapter everyone. It was funny reading people asking what was going to happen to Riptide. I mean come on, like I would just ditch the most important item of the story. I also need everyone's help with coming up for a name for Percy's other sword, Review or PM me your suggestions, it doesn't matter if someone has already posted that suggestion write it anyway. For now, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, leave a Review and tell me what you think and if you really liked it Follow and Favorite.**

 **Goodbye my Greek geeks. Tide out.**


	14. Off with her head!

**Percy Jackson Son of Hearth and Sea: The Lightning Thief**

 **IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE!**

 **IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE!**

 **IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE!**

 ***dramatic music plays* HELLOOOO EVERYBODYYYY! IIII'M BAAAACK!**

 ***crowd cheers* Riptide! Riptide! Riptide!**

 **It has been such a long time, but I have done it! I have updated chapters 6-13. There aren't many changes in 6-11, but they are still somewhat important changes. So what are you waiting for?! GO! GO! GO! Read them, before you read the chapter below. Yes, that is correct. The chapter below. I have made another chapter for all you wonderful, amazing, awesome, incredible, readers, followers and favoriters. You guys are seriously the best and thank you so much for your support. I will not be posting everyday. Instead I will be posting on Monday's, Wednesday's and Friday's. Quick chapters with good quality content. For now though I hope you enjoy this chapter, leave a Review to tell me what you think and if you really like it, Follow and Favorite.**

 **Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING! Except some plot points.**

* * *

 **Chapter 14:**

The three of us had been running for miles. We had no money, no food, and no Oreo's.

We finally came to a stop. Breathing heavily and drenched in rainwater and sweat.

Grover collapsed onto his back, complaining about losing a bag of tin cans.

Annabeth bent over, with her hands on her knees.

I just stood up, with my hands on my hips.

We were all greedily taking in huge gulps of air, trying to regain control of our breathing.

"Are you okay?" Annabeth asked after a minute of heavy breathing.

I wanted to say, _No, I just lost a perfectly perfect box of Oreo's._ Instead I nodded my head and said, "Yeah. Yeah, I'm good."

She straightened and her eyes blazing with an intense fury. "Good."

Before I knew what was happening, something struck me across the face, knocking me down to the floor. I wished I had complained about losing the box of Oreo's.

"What the Hades were you thinking Percy?!" Annabeth screamed at me. "Were you trying to get us killed?"

I only now realized that Annabeth had just punched me in the face. I groaned, while slowly getting up. "I'm sorry, but what did you want me to do? Let the Furies kill us?" I asked now standing up, cradling my jaw.

"I would have come up with a plan," she said.

"Your plan was taking too long," I said, my irritation with her increasing. Grover was watching the two of us like a tennis match.

"Well you didn't have to-"

"Enough!" I yelled, my frustration with her almost reaching it's peak. "Why are you so mad about it?"

"Don't you get it? We could have died!"

"But we didn't," I said frustrated with her stubbornness. "We're alive, so get over it and stop complaining."

She looked like she wanted to say something but she just sighed and said, "We should keep going."

Together we continued walking in the same direction we were running in silence. Annabeth was walking ahead with me behind her, and Grover behind me.

After a few more minutes of silence and walking, Annabeth stepped into line next to me. "Look I ..." Her voice faltered. "I'm grateful for what you did back there."

"I'd honestly do it all over again."

"It's just that ..." she continued, not seeming to notice what I had said. "If we died, besides that it would totally suck for us. This quest would be over, the world would be in total chaos and I'd never get to see the real world."

The thunderstorm had finally stopped, and now we were in almost total darkness. The city behind us only a faint glow. I could barely see Annabeth, except for a glint of blonde hair.

She continued, "And you're pretty lucky, being able to train in the real world." She started rushing her words like she was afraid someone would stop her. "At camp you train and train, and that's cool and all, but out here in the real world, where all the monsters are. This is where you know whether you're good or not."

She tried to sound confident, but I could hear the doubt in her voice.

"I wouldn't say lucky, more like privileged," I said. "But you're pretty good with that knife."

"You think so?" She asked hopefully.

"Anyone that can spear tackle and wrestle with a Fury, is pretty awesome in my book."

It was almost pitch black, but I could still see the bright smile on her face.

"Sorry about what I did earlier," she said.

I shrugged. "It's fine, I honestly deserved it."

She looked like she was about to say something, but she was interrupted by a shrill _toot-toot-toot,_ like the sound of an owl being tortured.

"Hey, my reed pipes still work!" Grover cried. _Of course, it was his reed pipes,_ I mused. "If I could just remember a 'find path' song, we could get out of these woods!"

He puffed a few notes that still sounded like Hilary Duff.

Instead of finding a path, I walked face first straight into a tree.

Grover blushed and tried apologizing and Annabeth laughed at me.

I grumbled about mean friends and lit a fireball in my hand, illuminating the area around us. We only walked for a few meters before I noticed something unusual.

I sniffed the air and asked, "Can you guys smell that?"

Grover and Annabeth started sniffing the air too.

"Yeah," Grover said. "It smells like-"

"Cheeseburgers," Annabeth finished dreamily.

She was right. I could smell the many smells of food I haven't eaten in soooo long. It was the excellent smell of fried, greasy, excellent food. I hadn't eaten anything unhealthy since I was five. I may have had cookies in the Hunt and similar food at Yancy, but not once I had a delicious double cheeseburger. Plus, I was starving.

We followed the smell.

Through the thick of the trees, I could see some light up ahead, coming from a neon sign.

We kept walking until we came to a deserted two-lane road. On the other side was a closed-down gas station, a tattered billboard for some movie, and one open business, which was the source of the neon light and the delicious smell.

The open building was one of those stores that sold things for people's gardens. Things like garden gnomes, flamingos, wooden Indians and stone grizzly bears. The main building was a long low warehouse, surrounded by acres of statuary. The neon sigh was impossible for me to read, because if there is anything that's worse for my dyslexia than regular English, it's red cursive neon English.

To me, it looked like: _ATNYU MES GDERAN GOMEN MEPROUIM._

"What the f* does that say?" I demanded.

"Language, Percy!" Annabeth scolded.

I blushed deeply. "Sorry, quod irrumabo, ut non dicam?" I said.

Annabeth stared at me completely confused. I just grinned, thankful for my Latin classes.

Grover translated: "It says, Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium."

"Oh."

Flanking the entrance, as advertised, were two cement garden gnomes, ugly bearded little runts, smiling and waving, as if they were about to get their picture taken.

We crossed the street still following the smell of hamburgers.

"Hey …" Grover warned.

"The lights are on inside," Annabeth said. "Maybe it's open."

"Snack bar," I said wistfully.

"Snack bar," Annabeth agreed.

"Are you two crazy?" Grover said. "This place is weird."

We ignored him. I could feel some kind of pull, in the back of my head, telling me that I should not be here, but there was something blocking it, like a thick veil of fog.

The front lot was a forest of statues: stone animals, stone children, even a stone satyr playing the pipes, which gave Grover the creeps.

" _Blaa-ha-ha!"_ he bleated. "Looks like my Uncle Ferdinand!"

We stopped at the warehouse door.

"Don't knock," Grover pleaded. "I smell monsters."

"Your nose is clogged up from the Furies," Annabeth told him. "All I smell is burgers. Aren't you hungry?"

"Meat," he said scornfully. "I'm a vegetarian."

"You eat cheese enchiladas and aluminum cans," I reminded him.

"Those are vegetables. Come on. Let's leave. These statues are … looking at me."

Once again, we ignored him.

Annabeth knocked on the door and called out, "Hello?!"

There was no answer.

"Nobody's here," Grover said. "Let's just go."

"Hey, it's unlocked." Annabeth said.

Sure enough, the door to the warehouse was unlocked and we walked in. Grover doing so reluctantly.

The warehouse was stocked with even more statuary. People wearing a variety of different outfits, different poses and different expressions. All the statues were life-size which I found a little bit strange, but I was too intoxicated in the smell of food to care.

"Hello?!" I called out. Once again there was no answer.

"Percy!" Grover admonished.

I just shrugged my shoulders at him.

After a few more seconds of silence Grover said, "See there's nobody here. Let's just-"

"Hello, children," a voice interrupted, making Grover yelp. I looked in front of me to see a tall Middle Eastern looking woman. She looked Middle Eastern because her entire body was covered in a black gown, showing nothing but elegant coffee colored hands that looked fairly old. "What are you doing here all alone?" She asked, her voice also having a Middle Eastern accent.

"Umm … hello ma'am," I said. "Sorry for barging in, but we're lost and we smelt food coming from here."

"Oh, you poor dears," she said. "Yes, there is food here. I am Aunty Em, please follow me." She then turned around and started walking towards the back of the warehouse, her long black gown slithering behind her. We followed her past all the different statues, I looked closely at them and was astounded by the detail that went into them. They looked so life-like. There was a problem with them though, a lot of them had an expression of fear on their face.

"Do you make these statues yourself?" I asked her.

Aunty Em turned around to face us and said, "Yes, but it was not always just me." Her voice was soothing and soft like velvet.

"What happened?" Annabeth asked.

Aunty Em stiffened, like Annabeth had just done something wrong, but relaxed just as quickly. "It is a tragic story," she said. "You see, I once had a … a boyfriend and a woman was jealous of me. She was determined to break us apart, and caused a terrible accident. I had two sisters who stayed by me, but they had passed on, leaving me alone with a terrible price, so I create my statues to keep me company."

The story sounded very familiar but her melodic voice and the smell of food was clouding my mind.

I looked over to Annabeth, to see her eyebrows furrowed together, like she was thinking about Aunty Em's story.

We finally arrived at the back of the warehouse, there were various kinds of snack machines like, a fast-food counter with a grill, a soda fountain, a pretzel heater, and a nacho cheese dispenser.

You may be wondering how I know of these machines if I've been living with the Hunt for practically all my life. The answer is simple. Tracy Theff, daughter of Hermes.

She was my main teacher in the Hunt and my closest friend after Zoë. She was very persistent on making sure I knew all the different snack machines.

"Please, sit," Aunty Em told us, gesturing towards the metal picnic benches.

We sat down and Aunty Em walked back to the fast-food counter, but I finally noticed there was something strange with the way she walked, like she was hovering. I looked down to the part of her gown that was trailing behind her and noticed that the end flicked every now and then like ... like a tail.

Realization finally hit me.

Aunty Em is a monster, and this is a monster's lair.

I wasn't sure what monster she was though, because I was still trying to fight the trance she had put me in.

Aunty Em came back with trays heaped with cheeseburgers and fries and a box of Oreo's. Before she could set them down I stood up and said, "We should leave."

Aunty Em stopped and I couldn't tell with the veil covering her face, but I guess she was surprised. Grover and Annabeth understood immediately and stood up as well.

"Yeah," Annabeth said. "The orphanage will be looking for us."

"Right," Grover said, playing along with our act. "The headmaster will have our heads if we don't get back."

As we were saying our excuses we were slowly walking backwards away from whatever kind of monster Aunty Em was.

"But my dears," she said, placing the food on the table. "You can't leave, you haven't eaten anything yet." Her voice sounded sincere, but I knew that it was just her tricks to try and convince us to stay. "At least stay for a photo, so I can create a statue of you."

I resisted against whatever magic she was using and tried to remember what monster she was. "I'm sorry, ma'am," I said. "But we really must be going."

I tried to remember where the story she told me came from. Two sisters, a bad woman, a boyfriend and an accident.

Aunty Em said, "You both have such beautiful eyes. It has been so long since I have seen eyes like those."

Annabeth and I glanced at each other. Her name was becoming clear and the trance she was trying to keep on me was fading.

Her name wasn't Aunty 'Em', it's Aunty 'M'. The 'M' stands for something. Who was it?

Medea?

Madonna?

Moana?

Come on, Percy! Think!

Monster lady said, "I can't see your eyes very well, behind this cursed veil." She started unwrapping her veil.

Her name finally came to me, when I remembered all the statues around me and their horrified faces. She was, "Medusa!" I cried.

"Run!" Annabeth yelled.

We all turned and ran, just before Medusa could completely take off her veil. She wailed in rage behind us, and I resisted the urge to turn around.

We were thirty feet from the exit when Grover yelled, "Duck!"

We all hit the deck and seconds later, a statue of a woman flew over our heads and straight into the doors of the warehouse and blowing them open.

The three of us got to our feet as fast as we could and bolted towards the now open doors. I pushed Grover and Annabeth ahead of me and just before I could reach the doors, something caught me by my ankle and tripped me over, and as soon as I hit the ground it started pulling me.

"Percy!" Grover and Annabeth cried.

"Keep going!" I yelled to them. I knew they must have not liked it, but I could hear them running off.

Suddenly I was being lifted into the air by my leg. I shut my eyes, not risking looking at the gorgon and becoming a statue.

I could hear Medusa cackling softly beside me and the sound of her hair snakes hissing.

Somewhere in the distance, I heard Grover yelling, " _Maia!"_ Meaning that he was kick-starting his flying sneakers.

"Why must you help those foolish Olympians Percy?" Medusa asked, her voice sounding nothing like a monster's. "Why would you help those who curse and punish others without remorse, like Athena has done to me, like Zeus and Hades have done to you? Do not be their pawn Percy, join me as one of my statues, and you will suffer less pain.

She was evil, she had killed thousands of innocents, but her words were true. Not the statue part. But why I was helping the gods.

Before I could come up with an answer, there was a loud buzzing sound coming from somewhere off to my side.

"Incoming!" Grover yelled, his voice coming from the same direction as the noise, I realized he was using his flying shoes, to do … I'm not exactly sure, my eyes are still closed.

As he came closer there was a loud _THWACK!_

It sounded like someone hitting a tree, but then whatever was holding me let go of my ankle and made me fall to the ground.

Medusa roared in rage. "You miserable satyr," she snarled. "I'll add you to my collection."

"That was for Uncle Ferdinand!" Grover yelled back.

I opened my eyes and unsheathed my sword. I brought it up and angled it so I could see behind me. I really wish I hadn't, in the reflection was Medusa, and she was hideous. Her head was a cluster of snakes, made to look like hair, her body was still in its black gown but her hands were now warty and bronze talons were visible, where her legs should have been, was a tail around seven feet long, and her voice was horrible and hideous, I can't even describe it.

As quick as I could, I ran to a cluster of statues and hid in them. I angled my sword again and spotted Grover holding a tree branch and was coming down for another pass. His face was twitching and his eyes were shut, I realized he was using his nose and ears alone to find her.

I saw her rearing back her tail to strike him.

"Grover, watch out! She has a tail!" I called out to him.

"A tail?!' Grover asked incredulously. Just to prove my point, Medusa slammed Grover with her tail and sent him flying straight into a statue of a bear. He landed with a painful, "Oomph!" and then the bear statue toppled over and smashed across the ground. Grover was sprawled across the debris, thankfully on his front, and groaning in pain.

Medusa started looking around for me and I quickly put my sword down, not wanting to be seen.

"Where are you, Percy?" Medusa asked. She started slithering off to one direction, and I quickly tip-toed my way in the opposite direction.

When I reached another cluster of statuary, I heard Annabeth's voice beside me, "Percy!"

I jumped and almost let out a yelp. "Don't do that," I said clutching my chest.

"You have to cut her head off," she whispered.

"That's going to be a little hard," I whispered back. "She has a freaking tail!"

"You'll have to use both your swords," she told me.

"What? Why?" I asked.

"You won't be able to use your bow, you would never take her down with just arrows, and you wouldn't be able to get enough shots on her without being killed. You'll need one sword for a reflection and the other," she then made a slicing motion with her hand across her throat.

"How'd you know about my bow?" I asked her. I don't remember ever using it at Camp Half-Blood, or mentioning about it to her.

She stammered a bit and said, "Oh, I, uhhh, I remember you using it, in the Capture the flag game."

I furrowed my eyebrows together, confused at why she had stumbled on her words, but figured it wasn't important right now.

I pulled Riptide out of my pocket and uncapped it, the three-foot-long bronze sword shimmering into existence. I looked at the reflection in both of my swords and found it was easier to see on Riptide.

"How am I going to get close?" I asked.

She just grinned and said, "Leave that to me." She then put her Yankee's cap back on her head and turned invisible.

I waited for several seconds. Then I heard Medusa's hissing snakes coming closer to the cluster of statues I was sitting by. I heard her stop and start inching towards my position. The hissing of her snake hair getting louder.

I held my breath, shut my eyes, and turned the other way of where she was coming.

Before she could reach me, there was the sound of something smashing coming from behind Medusa.

I heard her retreat back and start her way towards the sound. I let out a small breath of relief and readied myself.

I lifted up Riptide in my left hand and angled it so I could see Medusa in the reflection. I slowly got up, not wanting to risk making any sounds, keeping my other sword by my side at the ready.

Medusa was still looking around the area of where the noise was coming from.

I started to walk slowly backwards towards her, picking up my pace as I got closer to her.

It didn't go as I planned.

I was so focused on her head, that I had forgotten about watching out for her tail. It had wrapped around me, pinning my arm with my sword, that has yet to be named, to my side but keeping my arm with Riptide free. Medusa cackled as I was lifted up.

I shut my eyes as I was lifted off the ground and took a wild swing to where I could hear the hissing of her snakes.

She must have moved away, because my sword only met with air. Before I could take another swing, she grabbed my arm and yanked Riptide out of my grasp and letting it fall to the floor.

"Open your eyes, son of Poseidon," Medusa crooned. "Accept your fate."

I got angry at being called the son of Poseidon. During my time at Camp Half-Blood, that's who I was classified as because he was an Olympian and she wasn't. I was put in the cabin of a god who never noticed or acknowledged me for twelve years, and when he finally did, he needed me to do his dirty work. I was raised by Hestia, but no one seemed to acknowledge that fact.

"Help me destroy the girl," she continued in her soothing voice. "Help me kill the daughter to your father's enemy, the woman who turned me into a monster."

I was absolutely livid now. Not only was she addressing me as Poseidon's son, but now she expected me to kill Annabeth because our parents were enemies.

"You know what lady?!" I yelled at her. "Athena may have turned you super ugly, but you were the one who became a monster."

Medusa growled as the snakes on her head hissed even louder.

"And another thing!" I yelled, shutting her up. "I'm the son of HESTIA!"

As soon as I said that, I lifted up my free arm and let loose a ball of fire at her.

She screamed in agony, her tail losing it's grip and letting me go.

I landed on the ground on my hands and knees, I felt Riptide appear back in my left pocket. I opened my eyes and took a glance to where Medusa was wailing, being careful not to look at her face.

I then made a dash towards her, keeping my head down.

Her thrashing tail swung towards me right.

I slashed at it, cutting off a small part doing a quick three-sixty spin and putting my sword into an ice-pick grip, then stabbed my sword into the tail, going straight through and into the ground, pinning it to the floor.

Medusa again screamed in agony.

I put my hand in my left pocket and continued on my way to her head, with my eyes closed.

I had only taken a few steps towards her when I heard her lunging at me.

With lightning speed I pulled Riptide out of my pocket, uncapping the lid with my thumb, and slashed to where her I could hear her head was.

 _Schlock!_

My sword passed through something with that sickening sound. There was the sound of a hiss, like wind rushing out of a cave. The sound of a monster disintegrating. Then there was a thud, right next to my foot. It took all of my willpower not to look. I could feel the snakes tugging at my shoelaces and something wet soaking into my sneaker. The head hadn't disintegrated. It was now a spoil of war, just like in the original story. My namesake, Perseus, had killed Medusa the same way, and her head had remained, but it could still petrify you.

Annabeth then came over, holding Medusa's black veil. "Don't, move." She instructed me.

"I wasn't planning on it."

Then very, very slowly, she crouched down, looking up towards the roof and wrapped Medusa's head in the veil.

As she was doing that, Grover was making his way towards us. His green Rasta cap was hanging off one of his horns and his fake feet had been knocked off, with the flying sneakers fluttering around his head.

"It's all good," Annabeth announced.

"Nice flying G-man," I said to him, when he had made his way over to us.

He grinned bashfully. "It wasn't that great," he said, snatching his sneakers out of the air.

Annabeth raised an eyebrow at him. "Oh yeah, how many other satyrs can say that they used magic flying shoes to dive-bomb Medusa and bash her over the head with a tree branch."

He grinned 'goatishly'. "Not many."

"Only one," I clarified.

He smiled proudly at that.

I then pulled my sword out of the gold dust it was stuck in and sheathed it. We then made our way back towards the picnic table.

We ate the food that Medusa had set out for us because she was dead, we were hungry and there was no need to worry about any other sort of traps.

I was still mad with the events that had just happened. On our first day of the quest we were attacked by four of the most powerful monsters in mythology, and we were almost killed by Zeus on the same day. Athena had created this thing because my father had decided to have a little fun time in her temple. All this was the gods fault. This quest, the attacks we received, it's because of them. With every thought I got more and more angry.

Grover must have read my emotions again because he looked at me worriedly. I ignored him and looked at the head we had wrapped in some more wrapping.

What had she said? _Do not be the Olympians pawn._

"I'll be right back," I said standing up from my seat.

"Percy," Annabeth called after me. "What are you-"

I searched the back of the warehouse until I found Medisa's office. Her account book showed her six most recent sales, all shipments to the Underworld to decorate Hades and Persephone's garden. According to one freight bill, the Underworlds billing address was _DOA Recording Studios, West Hollywood, California._ I folded up the bill and put in in my pocket.

In the cash register I found twenty dollars, several drachmas, and some packing slips for Hermes Overnight Express, with leather pouches attached to each one for coins. I rummaged through the rest of the office until I found one box that was the right size.

I went back to the picnic table, packed the head up and filled out a delivery slip:

 _The gods_

 _Mount Olympus_

 _600th floor_

 _Empire State Building_

 _New York, NY_

Grover and Annabeth's eyes went wide as they read what I wrote. Just to rub salt in the wound I had written it in Ancient Greek.

"They're not going to like that," Grover said. "They'll think you're impertinent."

I continued writing:

 _With best wishes,_

 _PERCY JACKSON THE IMPERTINENT_

"You don't even know the half of it," I said as I poured a few drachmas into the pouch. As soon as I closed it, there was a sound like a cash register. The package then floated in the air and with a loud _pop_ the package disappeared.

I looked at Grover and Annabeth, daring them to say something against my actqions.

They didn't say anything. They seemed to accept the fact that I had a habit of pissing off the gods.

And damn right I do.

* * *

 **A/N Whoohoo! This was a fun chapter to write. I know some of you may be thinking, "what? This was in the last chapter." It was, but I decided to change it because I felt like I was packing too much stuff into one chapter. I should also let you know that the first two books will be a little bit similar to the original. The major changes will start in the third book, but important points will be in these two books for later books. You also might be wondering about the pairing. Well, that won't come into play until book three and it's going to be a doozie. *grins wickedly* For now, I'm going to leave you wondering who it could possibly be. Also, I still need suggestions for Percy's other sword, PM me or Review some suggestions, doesn't matter if someone's already said it, say it anyway, it just makes my job easier. That's all for now, so as always, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, leave a Review and tell me what you think, and if you really like it Follow and Favorite.**

 **Goodbye my Greek geeks. Tide out.**


	15. The beginnings of bad karma

**Percy Jackson Son of Hearth and Sea: The Lightning Thief**

 **A/N Hello people of earth, I have a new chapter for you. I would just like to point out once more that the first two books I make won't have major changes, but they will have important points for future books. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter, leave a Review and tell me what you think (Review or PM me some suggestions for Percy's sword) and if you really like it, Follow and Favorite.**

 **Reviews:**

 **German Dude: Thanks for the name suggestion**

 **Guest: *bows* thank you.**

 **RandomDudeZK: *shrugs smiling sheepishly* I don't know, I guess I just watch too many action movies.**

 **Guest: Don't worry Percy will be using double wielding soon.**

 **Nitewolf423: Thanks for the name suggestion, but I don't really understand what you said at the end there.**

 **Death Fury: Thank you**

 **RustLegion428: Thanks for telling me, I got it from google translate, but it isn't making any sense at all. The meaning keeps changing every time I translate.**

 **Me: I own it all-**

 _ **SLAP!**_

 **Disclaimer: I do not own PJO Rick Riordan does. *Lies down* *Tries not to cry* *Cries hysterically***

* * *

 **Chapter 15:**

We were pretty miserable that night. I wasn't that miserable though, I was eating the box of Oreo's that Medusa had left. We had also taken some blankets and other kinds of food from Aunty Em's place.

We camped out in the woods, one hundred yards from the main road, in a marshy clearing that local kids had obviously been using for parties.

The ground was littered with flattened soda cans and fast-food wrappers.

I took the liberty of drying our clothes and warming us up.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to light a fire after what just happened?" Annabeth asked, looking extremely tired.

"Don't worry," I said, placing down some sticks and leaves in an organized pile. "The fire comes straight from my mother's Hearth, so it will scare away minor monsters, and it should protect us from danger if any other monsters come by."

Annabeth just nodded, too tired to say anything.

We sat down around the pile of sticks and I lit the fire, the heat warming me up straight to the bone in seconds. Grover and Annabeth sighed in pleasure at the warmth and scooted a little closer, huddled in their own blankets.

"We should sleep in shifts," I said, after a minute of warming up. "I'll take first watch."

Annabeth curled up into her blankets, made a cute yawn, and fell asleep, snoring cutely, as soon as her head touched the ground.

Grover and I were hunched over staring at the flames of the fire.

"Get some sleep," I told him. "I'll wake you if there's any trouble."

He nodded his head, but didn't comply. "This makes me sad, Percy."

"What does?"

He pointed to all the garbage around us and said, "This. And the sky. You can't even see the stars anymore. They've polluted the sky. This is a horrible time to be a satyr."

I looked up to the sky and thought about one of the times I had spent with Zoë.

 **Flashback:**

I was lying down on my back with my arms crossed behind my head, Zoë was lying down next to me. We had just finished with one of our hunts and had decided to just relax for a little while.

We were staring at the clear night sky, not saying anything until Zoë spoke up. "I miss them."

I looked at her confused. "Miss what?"

"The stars. They are not as visible as they once were," she said sadly, pointing to the sky.

"What do you mean?" I asked still confused.

She sighed. "Never mind, doesn't matter."

"Oh, come on Princess," I said, rolling onto my side and leaning on my arm, and earning a scowl from Zoë because of the nickname. "You know you can tell me anything."

She bit her lip, a sign that said she was thinking about. She then sighed again and said, "Look at the sky Percy."

I did as she said and looked at the cloudless sky.

"What do you see?" She asked.

I let my eyes roam across the sky, and looked at everything I could. "I see some stars, and constellations, and the moon," I answered.

"It wasn't always like this," Zoë said. "It wasn't always so plain, there used to be so many stars."

"How many stars?" I asked, my focus going back to Zoë. Her eyes then lit up like a Hearth and her lips formed a wide smile. It was one of the biggest smiles I had seen on her. It gave me butterflies in my stomach and I swear my heart skipped a beat.

"Billions," she answered. When I didn't respond for a few seconds she turned to me and raised an eyebrow.

I realized I was staring, and quickly directed my focus back to the sky and prayed that it was too dark for her to see my blush. I cleared my throat and asked, "Billions of stars?" I took a glance at Zoë out of the corner of my eyes and saw her eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. I started to panic, but she just shook her head and looked back to the sky. I had to hold back a breath of relief.

"Yes, billions," she said. "Can you imagine that Percy? So many stars, that they illuminate the sky on their own." I tried picturing the sky like that, with so many stars that it was almost impossible to count, but I couldn't do it. How could I picture something that I'd never seen before?

"It sounds beautiful," I said.

"It was," Zoë said wistfully. "I wish I could see them again."

I continued looking at the sky trying to picture something like Zoë described. "Show me," I said, turning to look at her.

She looked at me with a disbelieving look.

"What?"

"Flame brain, we both know you don't really care." Zoë said, shaking her head.

"Yes I do," I said. "I want to know how the sky looked back then. I want to be able to imagine what the sky would look like without pollution."

She turned to me again, her eyes looking hopeful. "Really?"

I nodded my head, with a smile on my face.

Her face lit up into a bright smile. She scooted a little closer to me and started telling me all about the stars, and the milky way, and everything to do with the sky. I listened as best I could, but I was too focused on her to hear most of it.

Eventually she stopped talking and looked at me. I wasn't sure what was happening, but the two of us just stared at each other. Her eyes had that unidentifiable emotion again. I felt like her face was getting closer to me. I realized that we were both leaning into each other.

Very slowly we inched our faces closer, and soon we were an inch apart.

"Percy! Zoë!" I heard a Hunter shout. Both our eyes went wide and we quickly moved away from each other, blushing profusely. _Oh, my gods! Did we almost just kiss?! Does this mean Zoë might like me? Whoa, slow down there Perce. She's a Hunter, it's not going to happen._ We both stammered our apologies and went to go see what it was we were needed for.

 **Flashback End:**

That was last winter, after my first semester at Yancy Academy. Ever since then I had kept asking Zoë to explain what the stars looked like. I definitely did not do it because I liked it when her eyes sparkled and a big smile went across her face. We never talked about our almost kiss, instead we chose on forgetting that it ever happened.

"It makes me sad too," I said.

Grover scoffed. "Right, a human that cares about the environment."

"I'm serious man. I grew up with the Hunters of Artemis, nature was kind of our thing."

Grover's eyes went wide at that. "Y-you, you what?"

"I was raised by the Hunters of Artemis," I said furrowing my eyebrows, confused as to why he was surprised by this. "Didn't I tell you?"

He shook his head at me, still staring with wide eyes.

I looked over to Annabeth, my eyebrows still furrowed in confusion. She had said that I was lucky to have been able to train in the real world, but I don't remember telling her that I ever trained outside of camp, and she had acted strangely when I asked about my bow. I decided to be a little warier of her if she knew things about me I had never told her.

Annabeth was an enigma. There were times when she could be cool and nice to hang out with, but others when she was just insufferable, and other times when she is closed up and secretive.

"You shouldn't think so bad of her," Grover said.

"Are you sure you half people aren't psychic?" I joked.

He glared playfully at me, "Yes I'm sure. I may not be as brave or smart as you and Annabeth, but I can read emotions really well. You shouldn't think so bad about her, she's just had a really tough life."

"Yeah, so I've heard," I said, thinking about how young she was when she met with the Hunt. "What else can you tell?"

"Not much, but when you accepted the quest, you had a strong feeling of determination."

I looked down a little guilty, because I hadn't told them the real reason I had actually come on this quest. "I'm going to be honest with you Grover, I don't really care about returning Zeus's bolt, I'm doing this for my mum. Both of them, I want to prove my mum innocent and this could be my chance to save her, and bring her back."

Grover raised an eyebrow, like he knew something. "I thought as much, but that's not the only reason."

I glared at him a little bit. "Yes it is, I'm not doing this for my father. He never once acknowledged me, for twelve years and then he needs me to do his dirty work. He doesn't care about me, I don't care about him."

"You may think that, Percy. But a part of you feels good that your dad has claimed you, and wants to make him proud. That's why you mailed Medusa's head to Olympus, so he could notice what you had done."

I wanted to deny what he said, but even I knew that what he said was true.

"You know," he said after a small silence. "When you were looking for something to piss off the gods with," he gave me a pointed look which just made me grin sheepishly and blush a little, "me and Annabeth were talking about what the Fu- Kindly Ones said on the bus."

I looked at him gaining more interest on something related to the quest. "What were you guys talking about?" I asked.

"When they attacked us, it was like they were holding back, and they kept blaming you for stealing something."

"Yeah, I noticed that too," I said, nodding my head. "Mrs. Dodds had also blamed me for stealing something back at Yancy, but I never thought much about it." I thought it over, they had accused me of stealing something obviously valuable, but what? They couldn't have been talking about the master bolt because Hades already had it.

"What do you think they were talking about?" Grover asked, breaking my train of thought.

"I don't know. I have a bad feeling though, like we're missing something," I said. "We can only hope that we're doing the right thing."

We stayed silent for another minute and I started feeling my eyelids getting heavy, Grover noticed this. "How about I take first watch? You get some sleep."

"No, I'm goof," I said, trying not to sound tired. It probably didn't sound too convincing, because Grover gave a small chuckle then started playing Mozart's Piano Concert No. 12 and soon, I was fast asleep.

Did I have a dreamless sleep you ask? Hahahahaha!

I was in some sort of dark cave, with a huge pit in the middle of it. Strange creatures made of gray mist swirled all around me, whispering things I couldn't make out, somehow I knew these were the spirits of the dead. They were tugging at my clothes, trying to pull me back ,but I felt compelled to walk towards the very edge of the abyss. Looking down made my head spin.

The pit was so wide and so black, there was no way it couldn't be bottomless. Yet, I had some sort of feeling that something was trying to rise from it, something huge, and very evil.

 _The little hero,_ an amused voice echoed from far below in the darkness. _Too young, too weak, but perhaps you will do._ The voice felt ancient, cold and heavy, like a knife scraping against a stone, and it was wrapping around me like a sheet of lead.

 _The have misled you boy. Barter with me, I will give you what you want. I will give you what you most desire._

I closed my eyes and resisted against the voice's words. _Don't listen to it,_ I told myself.

The voice then gave a cold laugh and some kind of force started pulling me forwards. It would drag me down into the abyss if I didn't stand my ground.

 _Help me rise, boy._ The voice became hungrier. _Bring me the bolt. Strike a blow against the treacherous gods!_

I could hear the voices whispering around me. _No! Wake!_

I opened my eyes to see the image of a fading figure, but it was gone before I could see what it was.

The grip of the unseen thing in the abyss tightened around me and I realized, it wasn't trying to pull me in. It was trying to pull itself out.

 _Good,_ it murmured. _Good._

 _Wake!_ The dead whispered. _Wake!_

I could feel something shaking me.

I opened my eyes to be faced with daylight.

"Well," Annabeth said, "the zombie lives."

I could still feel myself shaking from the dream. I could still feel the grip of the chasm monster around my chest. "How long was I asleep?"

"Long enough for me to cook breakfast." Annabeth tossed me a bag of nacho-flavored corn chips and the box of Oreo's I didn't get to finish. "And Grover went exploring. Look, he found a friend."

I wasn't sure if I was seeing things properly, maybe I was still shaken up about my dream and it was messing with me vision. Because Grover was sitting down talking with a pink stuffed animal.

I stared for five seconds... ten seconds... "Why is Grover talking to a to toy?"

I then heard a growl which made my instincts kick in and I had my hands ready at my swords and looked around for the source of the noise.

I looked to Annabeth to see her biting her lip with an amused smile, I looked to where the growling was coming from, to find it was coming from Grover's stuffed animal. I then realized that it wasn't a stuffed animal at all. It was in fact, a very much alive and a very pink poodle.

"This toy," Grover warned, "is our ticket west. Be nice to him."

"That's a him?"

Grover ignored my question. "Gladiola, meet Percy. Percy, meet Gladiola."

"You're kidding right?" I said not believing anything that was happening right now. "This is just a strange dream where weird things happen, isn't it?" I looked at Grover and Annabeth wondering what could possibly happen, but they both looked deadly serious. "You're not going to start spewing rainbows, are you?" I asked tentatively.

Annabeth grimaced, like the very thought made her want to spew. "What? No, this is very real, now say hello to the poodle."

I looked to the poodle, then to Grover, then back to Annabeth. "There is no way, I'm saying hello to a pink poodle. Forget it."

"Percy, I said hello to the poodle, now you say hello to the poodle."

The poodle growled.

"Hello Gladiola the pink poodle." _Why are dogs so evil?_

Grover explained that he came across Gladiola in the woods and they'd struck up a conversation. The poodle had run away from a rich local family, who'd posted a $200 reward for his return. Gladiola didn't really want to go back to the family, but he was willing to if it meant helping Grover.

"How does Gladiola know about the reward?" I asked.

"He read the signs," Grover said. "Duh."

"Of course, silly me."

"So we turn in Gladiola" Annabeth explained in her best strategy voice, "we get money, and we buy tickets to Los Angeles. Simple."

"No more buses," I said. Grover shook his head vigorously, showing his agreement. I had enough of buses, something always goes wrong on them.

"No," Annabeth agreed. She pointed downhill, towards train tracks I hadn't seen last night in the dark. "There's an Amtrak station, half a mile that way. According to Gladiola, the west bound train leaves at noon."

We then got the reward for returning Gladiola back to his family and payed for tickets that would take us as far as Denver. The journey would take us more than two days.

During the trip, we weren't attacked once, but I wouldn't relax. I felt like I was in some sort of display case and people were watching me from above and below. I figured it was the gods who were watching over the quest.

I would spend the day either pacing the train, or looking out the windows.

Once, I spotted a family of centaurs galloping across a wheat field, bows at the ready, as they hunted what I guessed was lunch. The little boy centaur, who was the size of a second grader on a pony, caught my eye and waved. I waved back.

Another time, towards the evening, I saw something huge moving through the woods. It was a lion, which I found strange, because lions don't live in the wilds of America. I then realized it wasn't an ordinary lion when I saw the glint of gold fur and it being the size of a bulldozer. Then it disappeared into the woods.

I paled and swallowed a lump in my throat. _I swear,_ I thought, _if we have to fight another powerful monster, I am going to jump off a building._

I tried to fall asleep, but it was hard because we couldn't afford getting berths in the sleeper car, so we had to sleep in our seats. My neck got stiff and I prayed I didn't drool because Annabeth was sitting right next to me.

Grover kept snoring, and bleating, and waking me up.

Once, Grover had shuffled around in his sleep, which had caused his fake foot to fall off. Annabeth and I had to stick it back on before any of the other passengers noticed.

"So?" Annabeth asked, once we had readjusted Grover's sneaker. "Who wants your help?"

"What do you mean?"

"Just now, when you were sleeping, you mumbled 'I won't help you.' Who were you dreaming about?"

I was reluctant to say anything, because this was the second time that the evil voice had spoken in my dreams. It wasn't as bad as the first, just more 'help me' nonsense, but it was bothering me so much I told her.

She was quiet for a long time. "That doesn't sound like Hades. He always appears on a black throne, and he never laughs."

"How do you know that?" I asked.

"Doesn't matter."

I decided not to push her. "Well, it's nothing like I was taught about. My mum said that Hades's voice was deep, not evil. And I was never taught anything about huge black pits."

Annabeth was silent again. Her mind was probably on overdrive.

I figured I should ask another question. "How'd you know I trained in the real world?"

She looked panicked and started stammering, probably trying to think of a lie. "I, uh, well, erm ..." she then sighed realizing there wasn't anyway she could get out of this. "I spied on you after the capture the flag game."

I stared at her for a few seconds, trying to think of what happened after the game, my eyes widened in realization. Chiron had taken me to the Big House where I had told them a brief version of my life story. I remembered the slight shimmer in the corner of my eye when we were talking.

"You spied on me?!" I asked incredulously.

"Look, I'm sorry," she apologized, "but I was curious, and I wanted to know why Chiron had wanted you. I wasn't expecting for you to say your entire life story."

"That doesn't give you a right to spy on me though," I said glaring at her a little.

"I said I'm sorry."

I shook my head at her. "Sorry isn't going to cut it."

"Well then what do you want?" She asked me.

I grinned. "You know, I'm also feeling curious."

Annabeth's eyes widened when she caught on to what I was suggesting. She shook her head, "Uh-uh, no way, I'm not doing that."

"It's only fair." I said still grinning.

She groaned. "What do you want to know?"

I contemplated on this. This could be a perfect chance to get her to open up a little bit. "Why'd you run away from home?" I asked.

She tensed. And stayed silent for a while. I was about to tell her that she didn't have to answer, but she had started talking anyway. "My dad never wanted me. He resented me the day I was born. When he got me, he asked Athena to take me back and raise me on Olympus because he was too busy with his work. She wasn't happy about that. She told him heroes need to be raised by their mortal parents. I had arrived at my father's doorstep, in a golden cradle, by Zephyr the West Wind. You'd think that he would see that as some sort of miracle? That maybe he took some digital photos or something. No, he would always talk about my arrival like it was the most inconvenient thing that had ever happened to him. When I was five, he got a 'regular' mortal wife, and had two 'regular' mortal kids, and pretended like I didn't even exist."

We had gotten into an uncomfortable silence, I decided to break the ice by trying to console with her. "When I was five. My mum had married an ugly, stinky, fat guy. I don't know why she did it, he would always beat me, and one night he killed her, right in front of me, so I ran and found the Hunters. Two years later, you were there, with a couple of your friends."

Annabeth reached for her camp necklace and started fiddling with the beads. She stayed silent for a long time again. "I was treated like a freak by my step-mother, she would never let me play with her kids. My dad went along with her. Anytime something bad happened - something with monsters- they would look at me resentfully, like, 'How dare you put your family at risk. Finally, I took the hint. I wasn't wanted I ran away."

I waited to see if she would say more, when she didn't, I undid my sword from my back and examined it for a little bit.

Eventually, Annabeth asked. "Have you given it a name yet?"

I looked at her questioningly.

"Your sword, have you thought of a name?" She said pointing to the blade that was in my lap.

I unsheathed it a little bit and said, "I've had a few thoughts for it. Firestorm, Blaze, Inferno, Hurricane, Sanctum, heck, I even thought of calling it bananas." Annabeth giggled a little bit. "I'm still having trouble deciding which one is best though." I then turned to a direction and stared at the person reading this on his screen.

We continued making small talk for a few more miles of the trip.

Towards the end of our second day, June 13, eight days before the summer solstice, we passed through some golden hills, through the Mississippi River and into St. Louis. Annabeth craned her neck to see the Gateway Arch.

"I want to do that," she sighed.

"Do what?" I asked.

"Build something like that. Have you ever seen the Parthenon, Percy?"

"Only in pictures."

"Someday, I'm going to see it in person. I'm going to build the greatest monument to the gods, ever. Something that'll last a thousand years."

I chuckled. "You? An architect?" I honestly thought that was kind of funny, trying to imagine Annabeth sitting still and drawing pictures.

Her cheeks flushed. "Yes, an architect. Athena expects her children to create things, not just tear them down, like a certain god of earthquakes I could mention."

I watched the brown waters of the Mississippi churn below us.

"Sorry," Annabeth said. "That was mean."

"Can't we work together a little?" I pleaded. "I thought we were over the Athena, Poseidon thing. I mean, they made the chariot together, why can't we work together?"

We rode into the city. Annabeth watched as the Arch disappeared behind a hotel.

She sighed. "What the Hades? Why not?" I was instantly relieved and elated.

We pulled into the Amtrak station downtown. The intercom told us we'd have a three hour layover before we depart for Denver.

Grover stretched, before he was even fully awake. "Food," he mumbled.

"Come on goat boy," Annabeth said. "Sightseeing."

"Sightseeing?"

"The Gateway Arch. This may be my only chance to ride to the top. Are you coming or what?"

Grover and I exchanged looks.

I wanted to say no, because it was six hundred feet in the air, but I figured if she was going it would be better to go with her.

Grover shrugged. "As long as there's a snack bar without monsters."

 _What could possibly go wrong with this,_ I thought.

* * *

 **A/N And I'm done. A chapter to get away from the action a little bit, plus a little Percy Zoë bonding time. I really hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, leave a Review and tell me what you thought about it, and if you really like it, Follow and Favorite.**

 **Goodbye me Greek geeks. Tide out.**


	16. I totally jinxed myself

**Percy Jackson Son of Hearth and Sea: The Lightning Thief**

 **A/N Hello my fanatics of fanfiction. I have a thrilling new chapter for you with a decent amount of action in it and a little surprise. You guys will probably hate me for it. Also, Trials of Apollo two is out! *squeals* I'm so excited, I can't wait to read it. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, leave a Review and tell me what you think (don't forget to leave a suggestion on Percy's sword name) and if you really like it, Follow and Favorite.**

 **Artemis: Why is this boy hitting on my Huntress?**

 **Me: Well, you see umm ... it's because-**

 **Artemis: Quiet male! Get on with it before I hit on you.**

 **Me: What exactly do you- *sucker punched***

 **Disclaimer: I do not own PJO Rick Riordan does, and that was a horrible-**

 _ **SLAP!**_

* * *

 **Chapter 16:**

This was a bad idea. It was a very bad idea.

I mean, first they want me to go up into the air, in Zeus's domain, and now we're underground, in Hades's domain. This was wrong on so many levels.

Grover had managed to calm me down a little with blue jelly beans he got from a snack machine and some Oreo's we didn't finish.

It was late in the day, so the lines weren't that long. As we were making our way through the underground museum Annabeth kept sprouting facts about how the Arch was built. The museum wasn't really all that interesting, it was just a bunch of random stuff from the 1800's.

I kept looking around at the other people in line, looking for anything that could look like a monster. "Smell anything?" I asked him.

He took his nose out of the jelly bean bag and started sniffing the air. "Underground," he said distastefully, "it always smells like monsters. Probably doesn't mean anything."

I still didn't relax.

I had almost gotten a hold of my nerves, but when I saw the tiny elevator we had to go in, my nerves went on the fritz again. I hate confined spaces, they drive me crazy.

I started devouring the Oreo's, hoping that eating would calm my nerves.

We were stuffed into it with a big fat lady and her dog, a chihuahua with a rhinestone collar.

We started going up the Arch. I had never been in an elevator before, so going up in a curve didn't make my stomach very happy. Especially when we were going to be 600 feet in the air.

"No parents?" The fat lady asked. She had beady eyes, pointy coffee stained teeth. She was dressed completely in denim which made her look like a blue-denim blimp.

"They're below," Annabeth said. "Scared of heights."

"Oh, the poor darlings." The chihuahua then growled. "Now, now, Sonny. Behave." The dog had beady eyes like it's owner, vicious and intelligent. I would've thought more on this but I was too busy freaking out to really care.

"Sonny?" I asked. "Is that his name?"

"No," the lady said. She smiled, like that explained everything, her forked tongue flicking out of-

Hold up. _Forked tongue?!_ I looked at her a little more closely. Pointy teeth, forked tongue, beady eyes with slit pupils. Yep. There was no doubt. This fat lady was a monster. I'm guessing that her dog was too.

If you were to look at me right then, you would have seen a completely calm and relaxed boy. But if you were to look into my head, you would have seen World War III going on in there. I wanted to whip out my sword and destroy her right there, but the elevator was too small and I probably would have hit Grover or Annabeth.

We made it to the top and I got out as quickly as I could, the box of Oreo's still clutched in my hands. I have no idea how I hadn't finished it yet.

Annabeth and Grover came out, looking at me questioningly, I just waved it off. I didn't know what kind of monster the fat lady was, or what her chihuahua was. But I didn't want to worry them, plus we were still in a public place with mortals around, so killing her wouldn't look very good for us.

I really wanted to go back down, but Annabeth was talking about the different ways she would have designed the Arch, and the look on her face was enough to let us at least wait until we had to go.

One of the security guards, a wrinkly old man, with white hair that was slicked back, a white moustache and glasses, announced that it was almost closing time. The man looked familiar, I think I had seen him in a movie. His name tag read: Stan.

I quickly pushed Annabeth and Grover towards the elevator wanting to get out of here as fast as possible. Unfortunately, the elevator couldn't fit me because it was already full.

"We'll wait with you," Annabeth said.

I made a split-second decision. "No!" I said quickly. "You guys go on ahead, I'll see you at the bottom."

They reluctantly stayed back. The elevator doors closed and they were gone. I breathed a sigh of relief, they were safe and away from danger, now it was just me, the monsters and the two security guards.

The second security guard was younger than the first, he had graying hair going around the sides of his head and dark gray hair on top. His face had wrinkles that showed he smiled a lot. His name tag read: Rick.

As quick as lightning, I pulled out my sword and pointed it threateningly at the monster lady. "Who are you, and what do you want?!" I yelled at her.

I heard the man called Stan say, "Holy moly! That kid has a sword!" I was slightly taken aback, because mortals weren't supposed to be able to see what it really was, but I figured it wasn't my most important issue right now.

The chihuahua jumped down from the fat monster lady's arms and started barking at me.

The fat monster lady smirked evilly at me, and rolled up her sleeves, showing her scaly green skin. "You should be honored, Percy Jackson," fat lady monster said.

Her pet chihuahua was still barking, but now it was growing, getting larger and larger, and every bark getting louder and louder. It grew to the size of a Doberman, then to a lion, until it's back was touching the roof. The fat monster lady continued talking. "Lord Zeus rarely allows me to test a hero with one of my brood."

The chihuahua wasn't a chihuahua anymore. It was one of the most fearsome monsters to ever be created.

The Chimera. I stared wide-eyed at the beast in front of me. It had the head of a lion with a blood-caked mane, the body and hooves of a giant goat, and a ten-foot-long diamondback snake for a tail. The rhinestone collar still hung around its neck, and the plate-sized dog tag was easy to read: CHIMERA - RABID, FIRE-BREATHING, POISONOUS - IF FOUND, PLEASE CALL TARTARUS - EXT. 954.

Fat monster lady once again continued, "For I am the Mother of Monsters, the terrible Echidna!"

I stared at her. I could only ask her one thing, "Where are your spikes?"

Echidna cocked her head to the side looking absolutely confused. "What?"

"Your spikes," I said. "You're an echidna, so where are your spikes?"

Realization seemed to dawn on her, and then an intense fury blazed in her eyes. I really wish I hadn't opened my big mouth. She howled with rage. "I hate Australia! Naming that ridiculous animal after me! My son will destroy you for that insult!"

Just as she said that, the Chimera lunged at me, baring its teeth at me. I dove to the side and slashed at it. I managed to get a hit on its side. I could hear the two security guards, arguing about something. They didn't sound fazed by this at all.

This is what I heard:

Stan: "This would make a tremendous comic book!"

Rick: "You're wrong there, my friend. I believe it could make a very interesting novel."

Stan: "But kids love comic books!"

And the conversation continued like that. The Chimera turned to me, hate burning in its eyes. I dropped the box of Oreo's still in my hand and pulled Riptide out of my pocket uncapping it and letting it extend into sword form.

I dashed towards it and swung Riptide down in a wide arc. The Chimera jumped out of the way, I then rushed at it again and swung the unnamed sword at its legs, it once again jumped over it.

I then swung Riptide in an upward slash, thinking I had a chance now, but with untold agility, it backed away from the strike towards where Echidna was standing. Echidna made a hissing sound in a way that I think was supposed to be laughter. "You fight well, but this isn't even his final form yet."

I was confused by this. What did she mean final form? Suddenly, the Chimera started changing again, it's hooves started expanding until they weren't hooves, they were now lion's paws with razor sharp claws. The Chimera roared, an orange glow was being emitted from the back of its throat. Then a pillar of flame came from its mouth, straight towards me.

"Whoa!" The strange mortal men yelled.

I raised my arms in front of my face, the flames licking around my body, but not doing me any harm. I couldn't say the same for the Arch. Its flames burnt a hole straight through the wall and floor. I had just destroyed a National Monument.

When the flames stopped, I dropped my arms keeping my swords to my side. The Chimera looked confused as to why I wasn't an ash-pile.

I smirked, then took advantage of its confusion and charged at the beast.

It got over its confusion faster than I anticipated and swung its paw at me.

I spun and swung Riptide at the oncoming attack, this is where everything went wrong.

I had underestimated the strength of the attack, Riptide clashed against its claws, sparks flying, I had lost my balance and my grip loosened on Riptide. I went flying towards the mortal men as Riptide flew out of my hand and out of the gaping hole in the Arch, down into the Mississippi River. I groaned, my arm was numb from the strike.

I stood up with my sword in front of me protectively. The Chimera growled at me. Echidna made the weird laughing noise again. "They don't make heroes like they used to, eh, sonny?" Echidna said.

The Chimera growled again. It lunged at me once more.

I was ready this time.

I ran towards it and did a baseball slide under it, letting the beast fly over my head. I then charged at Echidna.

Before I could reach her, I screamed when I felt a burning pain in my leg. I slashed at whatever had just caught my leg and felt my sword pass through something. The Chimera roared in what sounded like pain. I fell to the floor and looked at my leg to see two small holes on it. I had completely forgotten about the snake tail. Luckily, I had managed to chop off its head.

I turned to face the Chimera again, and heard Echidna cackling behind me. I shakily got to my feet, the Chimera was now stalking its way around me, making its way in front of the hole in the Arch.

I wondered why Echidna didn't kill me herself, but figured she just wanted to see me get killed by her son. The Chimera reared its right paw claws at the ready and slashed at me. I could only do what I could from becoming minced meat. I swung my sword as hard as I could.

It worked, I didn't become mincemeat. But it did something even worse.

My sword shattered. **(A/N Cue outraged cries and re-reads)** Pieces of the blade flying everywhere, even digging into my skin. I tumbled back to the ground, landing only a few feet from Echidna. I stared at the handle of what used to be my blade in complete shock. I reached into my pocket but Riptide hadn't returned to me.

I was beaten, I had lost. I was weapon less, in pain, and I could feel poison making its way up to my chest.

Echidna cackled like a madwoman. "How disappointing," she said. "to think that you managed to kill the most powerful of monsters and only to be beaten, by my son, in one of his weaker forms." She shook her head and tsked at me. "Perhaps it was just luck, eh?"

I bristled at her words. I was not weak, I didn't train for so long with the Hunters just to die at the age of twelve. I couldn't die when Grover needed to complete this quest to achieve his dream, not when Annabeth had so many dreams of her own. People were relying on me, I wasn't going to fail them.

I felt a burst of adrenaline course through my veins. "Hey Echidna," I said. She raised an eyebrow at me. "Go to Australia!" I then threw the broken sword at Echidna's face, the remaining part of the blade cutting into her cheek. She hissed in pain and clutched her bleeding cheek.

As fast as I could, I charged one last time at the Chimera, now standing directly in front of the hole. "If I'm going down!" I screamed at it. "You're coming with me!"

The two security guards hadn't said anything during the whole battle, instead were jotting down notes.

The Chimera just stood there, it's lion face looking startled. With all the strength I had, I leaped towards the beast.

I wasn't sure how I did what I did, but I did it. It shouldn't have been possible. I should have just crashed into it and do zero damage.

I tackled the Chimera out of the sizzling hole in the Arch and down towards the Mississippi River. That's right, you didn't read that wrong, I tackled the Chimera out of the Arch.

I heard Echidna wail, "Sonny!"

And the mortal man called Stan screamed, "Excelsior!"

The Chimera roared and thrashed around, uselessly trying to stop the 600 feet fall to the Mississippi River.

I could feel the poison still running throughout my entire body, And the only thing I could think of is how badly I jinxed myself.

We continued falling, and I could feel myself slowly slipping out of consciousness. And just before I hit the water, I blacked out.

* * *

 **A/N UUUNNNLLLIIIMMMIIITTTEEEDDD POOOOWWWWEEEERERRR! Well that's the chapter everyone, really hope you enjoyed it, because I had fun making this. Leave a Review and tell me what you think of the story, and chapter, and don't forget to leave a suggestion for Percy's sword, and if you really liked it, Follow and Favorite.**

 **Goodbye my Greek geeks, I'll see you Monday. Tide out.**


	17. Under the sea

**Percy Jackson Son of Hearth and Sea: The Lightning Thief**

 **A/N Hello everyone. It's been a while. I'm seriously, so happy that you guys loved the last chapter. My friends had invited me to go with them to a comic book store and I was like, 'Hey, I should add in Stan Lee," than I was like, "I gotta have Rick in there too," and BOOM! genius was created. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, leave a Review and tell me what you think, and if you really like it, Follow and Favorite.**

 **Reviews:**

 **Perseus999: I'm glad you liked it so much.**

 **ChrisBMWW155326: That actually helped a lot, my favorite is the second last one XD Sally's Vengeance. Thanks for all the suggestions.**

 **Tobias97: I didn't think many people would. Thank you.**

 **NinjaFang1331: Thank you, and I like it too.**

 **Firestorm337: Gracias amigo, glad you love this story so much.**

 **OMFG: Hell yeah they do! And no Riptide didn't shatter, it fell off the Arch. So, now I keep my neck intact.**

 **Phoenix X 2: I'm so glad you think so, it really puts a smile on my face. And yes, the book is out, and it's so funny XD and thanks for the sword suggestion, anything is helpful.**

 **Death Fury: Hahaha XD you don't feel sorry for Percy, but his sword? XD**

 **Swimybo: I couldn't resist XD**

 **Omega Alpha Hydra: One Marvel movie? ONE MARVEL MOVIE?! HOW ABSURD! I didn't watch one Marvel movie!. I watched _two._ And Riptide is not broken, his other sword is.**

 **Disclaimer: All rights of PJO go to Uncle Rick.**

* * *

 **Chapter 17:**

I was dead.

There was no doubt about it.

There's no way I survived the poison, much less the fall. I mean, I know I'm the son of Poseidon, but he's the god of seas, not rivers, and last time I checked, the Mississippi River was in fact a river. Plus, it's said that landing in water from the height I was at, is like landing on concrete.

I could even feel myself being transported somewhere. Probably my soul being sent to the Underworld.

Soon, I had come to a stop, no longer being pulled. I waited to come to face with the spirits of the dead, but I was immensely surprised when I didn't. I really should stop assuming when I die.

Instead, I stared in awe at the grand room I was in.

It was a very large, very blue, throne room. Various amounts of shells and crystals decorated the walls and ceiling, making beautiful blue-green-pink patterns. Huge marble columns rose from the floor towards the high ceiling, vines of seaweed wrapping around them. The ceiling had chandeliers hanging off of it, made from more shell and crystals. The floor was made of marble, the blue-green light of the torches around the room, being reflected off the shiny surface and a variety of underwater potted plants dotted around the room. I realized that my feet weren't touching the ground, I was floating just a few inches above it.

The next thing I realized was that I was underwater. I also felt incomplete, like I was missing something.

I heard a deep chuckle, come from behind me. I turned to look at the head of the room. There were three thrones located there. The one on the left was the smallest. It looked like it was made of conch shells, with coral for cushioning and designs of mermen around it.

The one on the right was only slightly bigger. Like the first, it was made out of shells and coral, but the design was different. Pictures of fish and seals decorated it, and they actually looked like they were swimming.

The last throne, in the middle, was the largest of them all. Made of coral, shells and crystal. Decorated with pictures of all kinds of things you would find under the sea.

And occupying the throne was ... me.

At least, an older and much taller version of me.

The man sitting on the throne was ten feet tall, wearing a white Greek robe royalty would wear, trimmed with green. He had messy raven black hair and a well trimmed beard, a deep tan, and sea-green eyes with crinkles around them that showed he smiled a lot. And in his hand was a bronze trident that flickered with green light at the tips.

This was Poseidon. My father. Which meant that I was standing in the throne room of Atlantis.

I was so shocked I think I said something intelligible like, "Uhhh."

He gave me an amused look, his mouth was formed into a familiar lopsided grin. The same grin I was well known for.

I didn't know what to say. I was too shocked to even think properly, there was so many questions I wanted to ask, but my voice failed me. Poseidon studied me, his eyes seemed to be roaming all over me, sucking up every detail about me. It made me feel kind of uncomfortable.

"You have her nose," he said after a few seconds of silence, his voice echoing across the room. That really took me off guard. I had expected him to greet me, or ask me to bow to him or something.

"What?" I asked completely confused.

I must have looked funny because Poseidon chuckled, a deep rumbling sound that reminded me of crashing waves. "You have your mother's noise," he clarified.

I grabbed my nose as if he just told me it wasn't there. "You remember what my mum looks like?" I asked. Poseidon looked like he was trying not to laugh.

"Of course I remember," he said looking a little bit more serious. "Sally Jackson was a queen among women. A mortal like no other." The mirth in his eyes slowly dimmed, another emotion being shown in them.

"Then how could you just leave her?" I asked getting a little bit angry. My voice sounded funny though, like I was talking like a squeaky toy. Poseidon gave me another amused look. I realized that I was still holding my nose, I quickly let go and tried to hide my completely red face.

He got a dreamy look on his face as he talked. "I offered her a palace under the sea, immortality. I offered her so much, but she would take none of it, she wanted to live her life her own way." I stared at him, I probably resembled a koi fish. He had offered her so much and she had rejected it all. "Unfortunately," he said, "her choice led to being with the mortal man."

"You knew about that?" I asked him.

He nodded his head. "Yes, she was a smart woman."

"How is getting yourself killed and beat smart?" I asked incredulously.

"You don't understand why she married the man do you?" He asked me.

I shook my head.

"To hide your scent. The man's pungent odor was so strong it could hide your demigod smell. She married him to protect you."

This information was all new to me. I had continuously wondered why my mum would marry a pig like him when she deserved to be married to someone rich and famous, but to hear that she did it for me ... I could feel tears pricking at my eyes. "She put up with that pig ... for me?"

"She loved you a great deal Percy, she didn't wish to part with you." I wasn't sure, but I could hear some other kind of meaning towards it.

I wiped my eyes, trying to get rid of the tears that were sure to come. "Why didn't you save her?"

He heaved a great sigh. "I was in the middle of one of the most important Atlantic meetings. I had heard your mothers prayer for help, but I couldn't just leave straight away, I made some lame excuses about needing the restroom. It worked somehow. But when I reached her apartment, I was too late. Neither of you were anywhere to be found."

"Wh-what do you mean?" I asked him.

"I mean just that, I couldn't find any of you. I searched and searched, but to no avail." I didn't understand. How could my mum have just disappeared? And disappearing from a god's sight. I now had more questions about what happened that night. Suddenly, I heard thunder rumble from somewhere above us. Poseidon frowned at the ceiling.

"My time with you is almost up," he said. "Zeus will not allow any more time between us."

"Zeus doesn't allow anything," I grumbled.

Poseidon let out a booming laugh, the sound reverberating off the throne room walls. "Quite right my boy," he said after his laughter died down. "Now onto more pressing matters. I need you to go to Santa Monica."

"Why?" I asked. "And isn't interfering in a quest against the law?"

He winked at me and said, "Yes it is." I realized that he was probably where I got my lack of obedience from. "I need you to go to Santa Monica beach to collect some items that will help you on your quest. I will send a messenger to give them to you."

"Why can't you give them to me now? I asked.

"You are still submerged under the Mississippi River," he told me, " its waters healed you and banished the poison from your blood and this is only a dream. When you wake up, only five minutes will have passed." As if on cue, the outlay of the throne room started to darken and fade out of view. "Our time is coming to an end." He then stood to his full height. "Good luck out there, Percy. You have a dangerous path ahead of you." The sight of the throne room was almost gone now. "I believe you can complete this quest and save us from imminent war." Poseidon's image started to disappear. "Oh and Percy, beware of the-"

Before he could finish, the image faded from view, I could feel myself being pulled again. When the pull stopped, I felt whole again. I opened my eyes, and was met with the sight of a burger wrapper in my face. I pulled it off me and threw it away.

I looked around myself. Just like my father had said, I was submerged waist deep in mud, under the Mississippi River. Pieces of trash was floating around everywhere, and only a few feet in front of me, Riptide was sticking out of the mud, the blade halfway into the horrible stuff.

I pulled myself out of the mud and swam towards my sword. I stared at it for a few seconds thinking of my conversation with my father. He had said he believed in me, he had helped ease some of my anger towards him. I looked around one more time, I could see little flecks of gold meaning the Chimera had been destroyed. I needed to get out of here and back to Annabeth and Grover. I needed to complete this quest.

And with that, I pulled Riptide out of the mud. "Thank you, father." I said to the dark water. I capped my sword and put it in my pocket.

I kicked up through the mucky river towards the surface. I came up next to a piece of what looked like a burnt box of Oreo's.

A block away, probably every emergency vehicle in St. Louis was surrounding the Arch. Police vehicles, the ambulance and news vans as well as helicopters flying around it. Civilians crowded together looking at the damage done.

Finding Grover and Annabeth was going to be hard.

* * *

 **A/N That's the chapter everyone. I know there wasn't a lot, but I didn't want to write too much and I had to split this chapter. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, a better chapter will be out Wednesday with more content. Leave a Review and tell me what you think, and if you really enjoy it, Follow and Favorite.**

 **Goodbye my Greek geeks. Tide out.**


	18. I can see a rainbow

**Percy Jackson Son of Hearth and Sea: The Lightning Thief**

 **A/N Hello my fellow fanfic fanatics. Here is the new chapter I promised you. I'm really sorry about no notifications appearing, but I keep getting some kind of error every time I post a new chapter. I think other authors are also having this problem because I don't get any notifications on stories I've followed. Is this happening to anyone else? Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, leave a Review and tell me what you think, leave a name suggestion for Percy's sword, and if you really like this story, Follow and Favorite.**

 **Reviews:**

 **Tobias97: Thank you.**

 **TBM10: Actually, Poseidon isn't the god of rivers. There are different gods of different rivers, but Poseidon isn't a river god.**

 **NinjaFang1331: Thanks, have a blue cookie (: :)**

 **Stygian stapler and JPBBX ftw: Here is your update.**

 **Tula Thunder** **: Hola Argentina, No te preocupes por hablar inglés, también puedo hablar español. ¿Me estás preguntando si esta historia será un** **Perzoë? If you are, then I'm not telling.**

 **Guest: Really glad you like it. I'll be sure to have some more scenes including them.**

 **Death Fury: Shhhh, this is fanfiction.**

 **Disclaimer: PJO doesn't belong to me! *dramatic crying***

* * *

 **Chapter 18:**

The streets were crowded with people. Navigating the streets was almost impossible. I was scanning the crowds looking for any indication of Grover and Annabeth.

I was passing by a news van when I heard a reporter talking with the security guard from the Arch called Stan. "I'm here with the security guard working at the Arch, Mr. Lee. So, Mr. Lee what can you tell us about the explosions?"

"Who cares?" Stan said. "I made another cameo!"

I heard another news reporter talking about a boy jumping out the Arch. And another explaining that it wasn't a terrorist attack, and so on.

I was walking all the way around the police perimeter when I saw the other security guard called Rick selling books on that Peter Johnson character.

I was beginning to lose hope on ever finding Annabeth and Grover again when I heard a familiar, "Perrrrcy!" I turned, only to be tackled by Grover's bear hug, or is it goat hug?

"We thought you'd gone to Hades the hard way!" He exclaimed. I figured it was best not telling him dying was the easiest way to get to Hades.

Annabeth was standing behind him, trying to look angry but even she looked relieved to see me. Before she could say anything, I opened my arms, grinning, inviting her into a hug. She rolled her eyes but hugged me anyway. "We can't leave you for five minutes! What happened?"

"Umm … I fell?"

"You fell?" Grover asked incredulously, looking towards the smoking hole in the Arch.

"Percy! That's six hundred and three feet in the air!" Annabeth exclaimed.

"I promise I'll explain later," I said. "But we have to catch our train before it leaves."

We weaved our way through the crowd making our way back to the train station. It took us a while, but we managed to reach the train before it pulled out of the station for Denver.

Once we found our self some seats away from the prying ears of mortals Annabeth turned to me and said, "What happened?"

"You remember the fat lady with the chihuahua?" I asked. When I reached nods from the both of them I continued, "Well, turns out they were monsters. Echidna and the Chimera to be exact." Both their eyes widened in horror. "I fought it, but the Chimera's snake tail bit me, then it knocked Riptide out of the Arch and broke my other sword," I said pointing to the empty sheath still strapped to my back, "Then the Chimera blow torched the Arch, or was that before? Anyway, I managed to cut Echidna's face with my broken sword and told her to go to Australia, then I tackled the Chimera out the hole in the Arch and-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa," Annabeth said, interrupting my explanation. "You tackled the Chimera out the Arch?"

"Umm ... yeah, so?"

"Percy! The Chimera is at least ten times your weight," Grover told me. "You shouldn't have the strength to be able to do that."

"I don't know how I did it, okay? I just did it." I said, clueless as to how I managed to even move the beast. I knew what she said was true, it should have basically been impossible for me to tackle a monster that big and powerful at the current size of my body, but right now, that was the least of my problems. "Can I continue?" I asked them. When they didn't say anything I took that as a yes. "So where was I? Oh yeah, tackling. As I was falling I could feel the snake poison going through my veins, then I passed out, then my dad came to me in a dream told me some stuff and that I had to go to Santa Monica to get something to help us with the quest and finally I woke up under the Mississippi River and went looking for you guys."

The two stayed silent for a little while, absorbing the information, the only sounds heard was the clacking of the trains wheels.

Annabeth was the first to break the silence, "We have to get you to Santa Monica. If your dad says that this gift could help us than we need to get it."

"Yeah," Grover agreed. "And you can't just ignore a summons from your dad, especially when he asked you directly."

I only nodded my head, suddenly feeling really tired. "You should get some rest," Annabeth told me. "You must be really tired after the day you had." I just nodded my head again and let out a long yawn.

"Night guys," I said drowsily. "I'm going to see Morpheus." And with that I collapsed in my seat falling asleep instantly.

The next afternoon, June 14, seven days before the summer solstice, our train pulled up into Denver. I hadn't eaten anything since I was in the Arch, where as Grover and Annabeth ate last night in the dining car. We hadn't had a shower ever since Camp Half-Blood, and it was down right obvious.

"Let's try to contact Chiron," Annabeth said. "I want to tell him about your talk with your dad."

We continued wandering around downtown for about half an hour, looking for something we could use to IM Chiron. I wasn't sure how we would do it, because the air was dry and hot, which was strange after the humidity of St. Louis. Finally, we found an empty DIY car wash. We went down to the stall farthest from the street.

Grover took out the spray gun and grumbled about it being seventy five cents. I fished out and gave him a quarter from my back pocket which left me with three more quarters and two drachmas. He inserted the coins and set the knob to FINE MIST. I chuckled at what we were doing.

Annabeth looked at me strangely. "What's so funny?"

"We're summoning a goddess via spray gun," I said grinning a little.

Annabeth rolled her eyes sighing. "You're such a seaweed brain," she muttered. I frowned at the nickname.

Grover pointed the nozzle in the air and water hissed out in a thick white mist. He moved it around until he got the right angle and a rainbow could be seen.

Annabeth held out her palm. "Drachma please." I handed it over. Annabeth held the coin over her head. "O goddess, accept our offering." She then threw the coin into the rainbow. The coin disappeared in a golden shimmer. "Half-Blood Hill," she requested.

The rainbow then gave us the image of the strawberry fields and the Long Island Sound in the distance. We seemed to be on the Big House porch. Standing with his back to us was a sandy-haired guy in shorts and an orange tank top. He was holding a bronze sword and seemed to be staring intently at something in the meadows.

"Luke!" I called.

He turned, eyes wide. When he saw me his scarred face broke into a large grin. "Percy! Is that Annabeth too? Thank the gods! Are you guys okay?"

"We're ... uh ... fine," Annabeth stammered. She was madly trying to straighten her shirt and comb her hair out of her face. "We thought Chiron, I mean-"

"He's down at the cabins." Luke's smile faded. "We're having some issues with the camp. Listen, is everything cool with you? Is Grover alright?"

"I'm right here," Grover called. He held the nozzle to one side and stepped into Luke's line of vision. "What kind of issues?"

Just then a big Lincoln Continental pulled into the car wash with its stereo turned to maximum hip-hop. As the car slid into the next stall, the sound was so loud that it shook the pavement.

"Chiron had to - what's that noise?" Luke yelled.

"I'll take care of it." Annabeth yelled back, looking very relieved to have an excuse to get out of sight. "Grover, come on!"

"What?" Grover said. "But-"

"Give Percy the nozzle and come on!" Annabeth ordered. For a twelve year old, she was very frightening.

Grover muttered something about girls being harder to understand than the Oracle at Delphi, than he handed me the spray gun and followed after Annabeth.

I readjusted the hose so I could keep the rainbow going and still see Luke.

"Chiron had to break up a fight," Luke shouted to me over the music. "Things are pretty tense here, Percy. Word leaked out about the Zeus-Poseidon standoff. We're still not sure how, probably the same scumbag who summoned the hellhound. Now the campers are starting to take sides. It's shaping like the Trojan War all over again. Aphrodite, Ares and Apollo are backing Poseidon, more or less. Athena is backing Zeus."

I was honestly kind of surprised that Ares cabin was backing up my dad. For what reason, I had no idea. In the next stall, I heard Annabeth and some guy arguing with each other, then the music's volume decreased drastically and I swear my ears sighed in ecstasy at the noise reduction. I think that was just me though.

"So what's your status?" Luke asked me. "Chiron will be sorry he missed you."

I told him pretty much everything, including my dreams. Well okay, I didn't really tell him everything, I just summed it up. I didn't realize I was talking for so long until the beeper went off signaling I only had one more minute left before the water shut off.

"I wish I could be there," Luke told me. "We can't help much from here, I'm afraid, but listen ... it had to be Hades who took the master bolt. He was there at Olympus at the winter solstice. I was chaperoning a field trip when I saw him."

"But it's against Ancient Law for a god to take another god's symbol of power directly." I said.

"That's true," Luke said, looking a bit troubled. "Still ... Hades has the helm of darkness. How could anybody else sneak into the throne room and steal the master bolt? You'd have to be invisible."

I wasn't sure, but something he said sounded suspicious. I also wondered if he was talking about Annabeth. Luke seemed to realize what he said. "Oh, hey," he protested. "I didn't mean Annabeth. She and I have known each other forever. She would never ... I mean, she's like a little sister to me."

A part of me wondered if Annabeth would like that description, while another part of me grew slightly suspicious of her. It was highly likely that Annabeth could have pulled it off, but it just didn't seem like something she would do.

In the next stall, the music shut off completely. A man screamed in terror, car doors slammed, and the Lincoln screeched out of the car wash.

"You better go see what that was," Luke said. "Listen are you still wearing the flying shoes? I'll feel better if I know they've done you some good."

"Oh ... uh, yeah," I said, trying not to sound like a guilty liar. "Yeah, they've been real helpful."

"Really?" He grinned. "They fit and everything?"

The water shut off. The mist started to evaporate. I was very relieved.

"Well, take care of yourself out there in Denver," Luke called, his voice getting fainter. "And tell Grover it'll be better this time! Nobody will get turned into a pine tree if he just-"

The mist was gone before he could finish his sentence. His image faded out of view. Annabeth and Grover came around the corner laughing, but stopped when they saw my face, Annabeth's smile faded. "What happened, Percy? What did Luke say?"

"Not much," I lied. "I've got to make one more call." I went up to the machine and put in another seventy-five cents. I gave the nozzle to Grover and took out my remaining drachma.

"Who are you calling?" Grover asked.

"Hopefully, someone who can help us out a little." I answered.

I lifted the drachma into the air and said, "O Iris, goddess of the rainbow, accept my offering," I then threw the coin into the rainbow, it disappeared just like the first time, into a golden shimmer. "Zoë Nightshade, the Hunters of Artemis."

Grover's eyes widened and this time, it was his turn to start straightening his shirt and combing his hair.

The rainbow then cast an image of a forest clearing with silver tents all around. In the middle with her back facing us was Zoë slashing and hacking at a training dummy with her hunting knives. I watched her for a little while admiring as she ripped the dummy to shreds with flawless and fluid movements. None of her moves were wasted, all being used to her advantage.

I snapped out of my daze and cleared my throat, "Zoë!" I yelled, but she didn't hear me. "Zoë!" I yelled a little louder but still not getting any response. I sighed, she was in 'battle mode' as I like to call it. When she is focused on nothing but her opponent and the rest of the world is background noise. "ZOË!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.

She spun around to the image and slashed at it with her knife. She frowned at the image in confusion, then scowled when she saw me grinning. "Percy, how many times do I have to tell you? Stop doing that!"

I just shrugged, still grinning.

She sighed exasperated, sheathing her knives. "What is it you need now? And who's your friend?" She asked gesturing to Annabeth.

"Oh, right," I said, a little embarrassed Grover and Annabeth were still here. "Annabeth, Grover, meet Zoë lieutenant of the Hunters of Artemis. Zoë, meet Annabeth and Grover."

"Grover?" Zoë said, looking confused.

Grover then popped his head into her line of sight. "Hi," he said. "It's an honor to meet you."

Zoë just scowled at him and looked at Annabeth who gave a small hello. "You look familiar," Zoë said.

"I was invited into the Hunt when I was seven," Annabeth said.

Realization seemed to dawn on her, "Were you accompanied by the boy and another girl?" She asked.

"Yeah."

"Oh yes, I remember you," Zoë said. "Have you reconsidered our offer?"

Annabeth shook her head. "No, my answer stays the same."

Zoë nodded. "Very well then. I'm guessing you're going to ask me for help with your quest."

"How'd you know about the quest?" I asked her.

"Milady Artemis told us."

"Oh."

"So what is it you need?" She asked.

Just like with Luke, I told her everything, with Grover and Annabeth adding in something I missed. When I was describing the pit from my dream and the voice I heard, her face lost all its color.

"Are you sure this is what you saw? Zoë asked me. I nodded my head, confused as to why she was like this. She made a three fingered claw over her heart and pushed it away from her chest, a sign for warding off evil. She gulped and started muttering, "This isn't good. This is really not good."

"Zoë what's wrong?" I asked.

She was about to reply when she was interrupted by Artemis calling for her. "Coming Milady!" Zoë called out. "Look Percy, if what you told me was true then you better pray that it was Hades that took the bolt."

"Why?" Annabeth asked. "What's in the pit?"

"Something very evil," was all she said. "I have to go, I'm sorry I couldn't help you with much, but I have faith that you will complete this quest. It was good seeing you again Annabeth." She then turned to me completely disregarding Grover, her eyes had that strange emotion again. "Take care flame brain," she said with a smile.

"You too Princess." I said, smiling back.

Just before Zoë could cut the message Grover yelled, "Bye! It was nice meeting you!"

When the image faded Grover turned off the spray gun and put it back, a silly smile on his face.

Annabeth looked at the two of us with a raised eyebrow. I realized I was also smiling and quickly shook my head. Before I could say anything, there was a loud growl. Annabeth quickly pulled out her knife and started looking around.

I, however, was blushing from embarrassment while holding my stomach. Annabeth finally seemed to understand that my stomach wasn't a monster and put her knife away, biting her lip with a small grin on her face. She was probably trying very hard not to laugh.

"Let's get something to eat," I said.

Soon, we found a small chrome diner and got seats at the back of it.

All around us, families were eating burgers, and drinking malts and sodas.

Finally the waitress came over. She raised her eyebrow skeptically. "Well?"

I said, "We'd like to order dinner."

"You kids have money to pay for it?"

Grover's lower lip quivered. I was afraid he'd start bleating, or worse, eat the linoleum. Annabeth looked ready to pass out from hunger. I was trying to think of a sob story for her when a rumble shook the whole building. All of a sudden, I wanted to punch the lady in the face for not giving food to starving children, but I quickly controlled myself. A motorcycle the size of a baby elephant had pulled up to the curb. All conversation in the diner stopped. The motorcycle's headlight glared red. Its gas tank had flames painted on it, and a shotgun holster riveted to either side, complete with shotguns. The seat was leather, but leather that looked like ... well, Caucasian human skin.

The guy on the bike would have made the wrestlers the kids at Yancy watched run home for mummy. He was dressed in a red muscle shirt and black jeans and a black leather duster, with a hunting knife strapped to his thigh. He wore red wraparound shades, and he had the cruelest, most brutal face I'd ever seen. He had an oily black crew cut and cheeks that were scarred from what looked like many, many fights.

As he walked into the diner, a hot dry wind blew through the place. All the people rose, as if they were hypnotized, but the man waved his hand dismissively and all the people sat down again. Everybody went back to their conversations. The waitress blinked, as if somebody had just pressed the rewind button on her brain. She asked us again, "You kids have money to pay for it?"

The man said, "It's on me."

He slid into our booth, which was way too small for him, and crowded Annabeth against the window. He looked up at the waitress who was gaping at him and said, "Are you still here?" He then pointed a finger at her. She stiffened then turned like she had been spun and marched back to the kitchen.

The biker man turned to me. I couldn't see his eyes behind his shades, but the feelings of anger washed over me again. I wanted to burn this guy to a crisp, I wanted to beat him to a pulp. The bikers name came to me instantly. And I wanted to really burn him to a crisp. _I wonder if he would smell like bacon,_ I thought. I quickly controlled my emotions again before I did something stupid.

He gave me a wicked grin. "So you're old Seaweed's kid, huh?"

" _Ares,"_ I growled. I knew this god very well. The Hunt had described him just like he is now. The Hunt had a very, _very,_ strong hatred for the war god.

He took off his shades, where his eyes should have been was just empty sockets with fires burning in them, but not like the calm and gentle fire of my mother. His was intense, like the fires of an explosion. "That's right punk. Heard you were in town, I got a little preposition for you."

The waitress came back with heaping trays of cheeseburgers, fries, onion rings, and chocolate shakes. Ares handed her a few golden drachmas.

She looked nervously at the coins, "But these aren't ..."

Ares took out his huge knife and started cleaning his fingernails. "Problem, sweetheart?"

The waitress swallowed, then left with the gold. I wanted to yell at this guy for doing something like that to a mortal woman, but I knew that was probably what he wanted.

"What do you want Ares?" I asked, my voice giving off a soft growl.

"What do I want?" He repeated. "I want you to do me a small favor."

"What favor could we possibly do for a god?"

"Something a god doesn't have time to do himself. It's nothing much. I left my shield at an abandoned water park here in town. I was going on a little ... date with my girlfriend. We were interrupted. I left my shield behind. I want you to go fetch it."

"Get it yourself you lazy ass." Grover and Annabeth sent me warning looks.

The fire in Ares's eyes burned hotter. "A god is giving you a chance to prove yourself Percy Jackson."

"Prove myself?!" I cried incredulously. "Almost dying to seven of the most dangerous monsters in mythology isn't proving myself? And getting a shield is? No thanks were good. We've already got a quest."

"I know all about your quest punk. When that item was first stolen, Zeus sent his best out looking for it. Artemis, Athena, Apollo and me."

"Does it go in that order?"

Ares's flame eyes grew hotter. "Listen here punk, if we couldn't find that thing then you got no hope. Nevertheless, I'm trying to give you the benefit of the doubt. Your dad and I go way back. After all, I'm the one who told him my suspicions about old Corpse Breath."

"Oh yeah, I'm sure you guys go way back. Like the time when you ... or the time ... nope I got nothing, what have you two ever done together?"

Ares let out a ferocious growl and then suddenly his hand whipped up around my throat. Annabeth and Grover screamed in panic. I felt like Ares was slowly getting bigger, I realized he wasn't getting bigger, I was getting smaller, and smaller until I was the size of Ares's hands. He grinned wickedly down at me. I looked down at my arms to see ... not my arms. Instead they were little legs covered in fur. I tried screaming, but it only came out as a squeal. Annabeth and Grover were looking at me in horror. Ares gave me a small squeeze, colors flashing in front of my eyes from the pain.

What had Ares done to me?

* * *

 **A/N And that's the chapter. So what did you think? What had Ares turned Percy into? Find out next chapter. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, leave a Review and tell me what you think, don't forget to leave a name suggestion for Percy's sword, and if you really liked it, Follow and Favorite.**

 **Goodbye my Greek geeks. Tide out.**


	19. I am the fire breathing guinea pig!

**Percy Jackson Son of Hearth and Sea: The Lightning Thief**

 **A/N Hello fellow followers, favoriters and fanfic fanatics. I have a new chapter for you that shall reveal the question everyone is wondering, is Percy a hamster? You'll have to find out. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, leave a Review and tell me what you think, and if you really enjoyed it, Follow and Favorite.**

 **Me: Uncle Rick has passed on and has given the rights of PJO to me.**

 **Artemis: *pulls out knife* Are you sure about that?**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything, just some plot.**

 **Artemis: Good male.**

 **Ares: Hahahaha XD you got told by a girl *High pitched squeal, holds crotch***

 **Artemis: *flicks Ichor off knife***

* * *

 **Chapter 19:**

I've had some pretty scary moments in my life. Almost dying, jump scares, being chased by monsters, the usual. But this was probably the scariest thing that's ever happened to me.

I squealed and squirmed in Ares's meaty hand, trying uselessly to make him loosen his grip. Ares would simply give me a small squeeze, pain erupting in my chest.

Grover and Annabeth were gaping in complete shock. Ares was grinning like a madman.

"You turned him into a hamster?!" Annabeth yelled, making my poor tiny ears hurt.

Ares let out a small chuckle. "No, no. Not a hamster. A guinea pig," he said a little too jovially. He then turned to Annabeth and glared at her. "And you'll stay quiet unless you want to end up like your boyfriend over here."

 _She's not my girlfriend,_ I wanted to shout, but it just came out as a squeal. Annabeth looked like she also wanted to say a retort, but wisely kept her mouth shut.

Ares turned back to me and let out another chuckle. "Now, listen here punk," he said, his voice staying dangerously calm. "You are going to go the waterpark, find my shield and bring it back here in three hours. In return I'll give you a way west and maybe a little something extra, as well as turn you back to a human." The last part he said with a very wide and malicious grin.

"Wait, what?!" Grover and Annabeth screeched. Once again hurting my poor little ears. I realized that the mortals weren't paying any attention to the boy who was just turned into a guinea pig and the screaming kids.

Ares laughed like a madman. "That's right, you'll have to complete this quest as a guinea pig," he announced pointing at me. I screeched out some things, that I would rather not repeat, at Ares. The Hunt would've been proud of me. Grover stared at me slack-jawed, most likely, understanding what I was saying since he could talk to animals.

Ares just frowned at me, probably annoyed with my guinea pig squealing. He gave my chest another squeeze making me shut up. "Unless you want to become a cheeseburger, you'll do as I say."

I nodded my head as best as I could as a guinea pig.

Ares nodded, obviously satisfied with himself. "Good, the water park itself is a mile west of here in Delancy. You can't miss it. Look for the Tunnel of Love ride. Oh, and of course you'll still be able to use your powers, it would hardly be fair if you didn't have something. Don't disappoint."

I must have fallen into some kind of trance after that, because when I opened my eyes Ares was gone. I hoped I had dreamed it and that hadn't really happened, but when I looked down at the chrome table, I saw that I was indeed a guinea pig which meant that I didn't dream it. I had short raven black fur and my eyes were still sea-green. A strange look for a guinea pig.

"Percy?" I heard Annabeth say softly. I looked to her to see her face etched with worry. She picked me up in the palms of her hands, bringing me up to be in level with her face. "Are you ok?"

I rolled my eyes and did the best gesture I could to indicate I was talking about my new guinea pig body.

"Yeah, he's fine," Grover said dismissively. Annabeth looked relieved. "What now?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Annabeth replied. "We get Ares's shield. Unless we want Percy to stay as a guinea pig for the rest of his life."

I nodded my head in agreement, I really didn't want to stay as a fuzzy animal for the rest of my life. _Why was he so desperate for us to get his shield?_ I squeaked out. Grover translated for me.

Annabeth shrugged. "Maybe it was something that requires brains, not brawn. That's all Ares is, even strength has to bow to wisdom sometimes."

We then ate our food as quickly as we could, so we could get the side quest over and done with. Well, Annabeth ate the most, I had three fries and I was full already and Grover ate the trays. I was perched on Annabeth's shoulder as we looked for the water park Ares had told us to find.

We soon came across said water park, the sun was already setting by then. Judging from the sign it looked like it was once called WATERLAND, but the some of the letters were smashed out so it read WAT R A D.

The main gate was padlocked and topped with barbed wire. Inside, huge dry water slides and tubes and pipes curled everywhere, leading to empty pools. Old tickets and advertisements fluttered around on the asphalt. With night approaching, this place looked sad and creepy.

 _So how do we get in?_ I squeaked. Annabeth turned to me confused.

Grover shouted, " _Maia!"_ His shoes sprouted wings and then he flew over the fence, did an unintended somersault in midair, then stumbled to a landing on the other side. He dusted off his jeans like he had planned the whole thing. "You guys coming?"

I rolled my eyes at him. _Put me down Annabeth._

What?" She asked confused.

"He said to put him down," Grover translated.

Annabeth then placed me on the ground. I walked to the fence and squeezed my way through the holes. I looked back to Annabeth to see her thinking face on. I was about to tell Grover to tell her that we would be back soon. Before I could Annabeth pulled out her knife and slashed at the padlock. The broken pieces of the padlock clattered on the ground, Annabeth just opened the gate and walked in, passing me and Grover further into the park. "You guys coming?" She called out to us, without looking back.

Grover hastily scooped me up in his hands and jogged to catch up with Annabeth. We continued searching for the ride Ares had told us when we came across a souvenir shop that had been left open. Merchandise still lined the shelves: snow globes, pencils, postcards, and racks of-

"Clothes," Annabeth said. "Fresh clothes." She then walked into the store pulled off an entire row of stuff off the racks and disappeared into the changing room.

A few minutes later she came out in Waterland flower-print shorts, a big red Waterland T-shirt, and commemorative Waterland surf shoes. A Waterland backpack was slung over her arm, no doubt filled with more Waterland goodies.

"What the heck," Grover shrugged. Soon, both of them were walking Waterland advertisements. We continued searching for the Tunnel of Love.

 _So,_ I squeaked. _What do you think scared off the god of War?_

Grover translated for me again.

"I don't know," Annabeth said helpfully. "Whatever it is, it can't be good."

Eventually, we found the ride Ares had told us about. It was an empty pool, at least fifty yards and shaped Iike a bowl. A dozen bronze Cupid statues stood around the rim. There wings were spread out and their bows notched with arrows ready to fire. On the other side, the pool opened up into a tunnel where the water must have run of the pool was full. The sign read: THRILL RIDE OF LOVE, THIS IS NOT YOUR PARENTS' TUNNEL OF LOVE!

Grover crept towards the edge with me perched on his shoulder. "Guys, look."

Marooned at the bottom of the pool was a pink-and-white two seater boat with a canopy over the top and little hearts painted all over it. In the left seat, glinting in the fading light, was Ares's shield, a polished bronze circle.

"This is too easy," Grover said.

"Grover!" Annabeth hissed. "Are you trying to jinx us?"

 _You have no idea,_ I squeaked. _There was this one time back at Yancy, we were late for class and Grover said, 'It's not like we'll be the last ones there' we were the last ones there. Then I once asked Grover if our math teacher was a monster and he said yes, turns out she was, then another time-_

"Okay!" Grover interrupted me, blushing a deep red. "Let's not go into detail about that."

"About what?" Annabeth questioned. "What did he say?"

"Nothing."

 _Tell her! I didn't just squeak all that for nothing._

"What?! No! I'll just embarrass myself!" Annabeth was studying one of the bronze Cupid statues muttering something to herself.

 _You do that on your own just fine._

Shut up, Percy!"

 _Fine. But I'm telling her if I'm ever human again._

"If?"

 _Yeah, you jinxed us remember. Who knows if we ever get out of this._

"Aaagh!"

"Grover," Annabeth said. "You know you look ridiculous arguing with a guinea pig, right?"

Grover blushed deep red while I snickered. "Yeah, well, you look ridiculous in those clothes."

Annabeth gave him a look that said, _Really?_ Grover resembled one of the strawberries from camp.

"I'm going down there," Annabeth announced.

 _I'll go with you._

Grover translated for me.

I wasn't sure why, but Annabeth's cheeks went pink. "What? Why?"

 _I can still use my powers, I can provide backup._ Grover translated again.

Annabeth nodded her head. "Oh, right, um, sure. Grover you stay up here so if we get into any trouble you can pull us out." Grover smiled, most likely happy about being trusted with something important to do. He then handed me over to Annabeth who then started climbing down the side of the pool.

I kept my eyes peeled for any sort of traps that could be laid out as Annabeth walked carefully towards the boat. We reached the boat with no problem. Ares's shield was propped on one of the seats, and next to it was a lady's scarf.

I jumped from Annabeth's shoulder onto the boat seats. If I had been human I probably could've done some awesome kind of landing. Unfortunately, as a guinea pig I just landed on my face. Annabeth chuckled behind me. I grumbled some undignified things about guinea pigs.

I walked over to the scarf, confused as to why it was here. I then remembered that Ares said he was here with his girlfriend. Which meant that this scarf belonged to Aphrodite, the goddess of love. I tried to think of why a couple of gods would pick this place as a date spot, when I saw something I didn't see from up top. Around the edge of the rim were mirrors, facing this spot. I could see myself from no matter which spot I looked. That was probably why, as the two gods were smooching, they could look at their favourite people: themselves.

I walked a little closer to it and placed a (paw?) on it. The scarf shimmered pink and the perfume it gave was the smell of pine and forests and apples, and even a hint of what smelt like ozone. It shouldn't have smelled good together, but for some reason it smelt amazing.

Annabeth snatched the scarf out of the seat before I could do anything else. "Oh, no you don't," she said tucking the scarf away into her pocket. "You stay away from that love magic."

She then reached for the shield, but before she could grab it I noticed something that looked similar to a spider web. Almost invisible to the naked eye. I squealed trying to warn Annabeth, but it was already too late. Annabeth had broken through the small piece of wire.

I rushed forward to get a better look at the wire. It was incredibly thin, and even though it was as flexible as string it was actually some kind of metal filament.

Annabeth gasped. "Percy, there's another Greek letter here. Another Eta."

 _What do you mean another Eta?!_ I squealed, unfortunately Annabeth didn't understand me. Suddenly, noise erupted all around us, like a million gears grinding, as if the pool were turning into one giant machine.

"Guys!" Grover yelled.

Up on the rim, the Cupid statues were drawing their bows into firing position. I was about to duck for cover, but they had already shot, but not at us. They fired at each other, across the rim of the pool. Silky cables trailed behind the arrows, arcing over the pool and anchoring where they landed to form a huge golden asterisk. Then smaller metallic threads started weaving together magically between the main strands, making a net.

"Come on!" Grover shouted. He was trying to hold open a section of the net for us, but wherever he touched it, the golden threads started to wrap around his hands.

The Cupids' heads popped open. Video cameras came out of the necks. Spotlights rose up, all around the pool, blinding us with beaming lights, and a loudspeaker voice boomed: "Live to Olympus in one minute ... fifty-nine seconds, fifty-eight ..."

"Hephaestus!" Annabeth screamed. "I'm so stupid. Eta is 'H'. He made this trap to catch trap his wife with Ares. Now we're going to be broadcast live to Olympus and look like absolute fools!" She then picked me up and was about to start running when suddenly, the mirrors on the rim of the pool opened like hatches and some ... things started pouring out of it.

I turned to look at Annabeth, and saw a look I had never seen on her face before. Fear. Whatever those things were, she was scared of them. The things, which I realized were metallic, were coming out in the millions. Annabeth started backing away from the metallic things.

"Spiders!" Annabeth screamed. "Sp-sp-aaaah!" She fell backwards into the boat, screaming in terror. I got a better look at the small metallic objects. The did in fact resemble spiders. They were bronze, with gear bodies, spindly legs and small pincers.

I internally groaned. Why did it have to be spiders? All children of Athena had developed a huge fear of spazzqiders ever since Athena turned Arachne into the first spider ever, her spawn have been haunting them ever since.

As Annabeth screamed and flailed in fear, I quickly thought of the best way I could use my fire powers. I couldn't use my clawed hands, my body wasn't agile enough to do it fast enough. I then got an idea, another crazy idea that might not work.

I reached for my power and felt the familiar tug in my gut, I looked at the closest swarm of spiders, opened my mouth and-

 _FWOOSH!_

Jets of white hot flames shot out of my mouth and blasted the spiders. The ones that got closest to the flames exploded or melted and any other ones close to them also exploded setting off a small chain reaction. I ran back to the other side of the boat and let off another jet of flames destroying more of the small spiders. I continued this for a little while, but the spiders kept coming, I wasn't sure how long I could keep it up before they swarmed us.

"Thirty, twenty-nine," the loudspeaker called.

Grover was flying above us, trying to pull the net loose, but it wouldn't budge. Flames danced around the robotic spiders, melting them and causing them to explode, but it still wasn't enough. I tried think of another solution. We were in the Tunnel of Love ride, water must have once been in this pool. I looked for anything that showed where the water must have come from, when I saw them: huge water pipes behind the mirrors from where the spiders came from. And up above the net, next to one of the Cupids, was a glass-windowed booth that must be the controllers stations.

 _Grover!_ I squealed as loud as I could, to hopefully be heard over the noise. Thankfully, he heard me. _Go to that booth and find the 'on' switch!_

"But-"

 _Do it!_ It was a crazy hope, but it was our only chance. The spiders were now all over the prow of the boat. Annabeth was screaming her head off. I could feel the energy draining from me as I used my powers. I had to get us out of here.

Groved was in the controller's booth, slamming away at the buttons like a game of whack-a-mole.

"Five, four-"

Grover gave me a hopeless look raising his hands. He was telling me that he'd pushed all the buttons it still nothing was happening.

I closed my eyes and concentrated. I thought about water rushing in to the pool, and felt the familiar tug in my gut.

"Two, one, zero."

Water exploded out of the pipes, it roared into the pool, sweeping away the spiders. I kept the water from us long enough to grab Annabeth's seat belt between my teeth, run over her and click it in place. The water then crashed into our boat and getting rid of the spiders still on the boat. I kept the boat from capsizing as the water rushed over us. The boat turned, lifted in the flood and spun circles in the whirlpool. The water was so full of short-circuiting spiders that some of them smashed against the pools concrete wall with such force they burst.

I willed the boat to ride the current and to stay away from the wall. The boat responded. The boat did one last spin, the water level now high enough to shred us against the metal net. Then the boats nose turned toward the tunnel and we rocketed through the darkness.

Annabeth and I screamed as the boat shit past curls and hugged corners and took forty-five-degree plunges past pictures of Romeo and Juliet and a bunch of thee Valentine's Day stuff. Although, I screamed more out of joy then out of fear, but nobody needed to know that.

Soon, we were out of the tunnel, and headed for the rides exit. If the ride had been working, we would've sailed off a ramp between the golden Gates of Love and splashed down safely in the exit pool. Did you notice the if? The Gates of Love were chained up, the two boats that had been washed out of the tunnel before us were now piled against the barricade. One was submerged, the other was broken in half.

I squealed to get Annabeth's attention. When she didn't look I bit her hand.

"Ouch!" Annabeth yelped. "Did you just bite me?"

I ignored her question and pointed to the Gates of Love then jumped up and down, trying to get my point across.

Annabeth looked confused, I repeated the movements again and Annabeth understood this time.

"You want us to jump?! Are you crazy?!" She yelled out incredulously.

I nodded my head. The plan was simple, but insane. Like the rest of my plans. When the boat struck, we would use its force like a springboard to jump over the gate.

Annabeth looked at the rapidly approaching gates nervously, but then her expression hardened. She undid her seatbelt, strapped Ares's shield to her arm and picked me up. Annabeth waited for the gates to get closer. She hesitated ... hesitated ... then just as the boat smashed into the other boats and and threw us into the air, straight over the gates. Unfortunately, we had been given too much lift and we were now thrown past the pool and down towards the asphalt.

Suddenly, our momentum changed. We weren't going down anymore. Instead, we were going forwards. I could hear what sounded like a huge hummingbird right behind us. I looked. It was Grover.

He had caught Annabeth midair from under her armpits and was now flying above the asphalt.

 _Alright, Grover!_ I squeaked. Grover grinned proudly.

"Nice catch, goat boy!" Annabeth said.

Grover chuckled goatishly. He then turned around and flew back to the Thrill Ride of Love's entrance. The Cupid-cams were still filming, the statues had swivelled and were focused on us. I squeaked a quick plan to Grover.

He brought us down closer to the cameras, and started flying a victory lap around the rim, the three of us were squealing and cheering and waving. Grover went for one last lap and started stammering before he said his next line. "That's all folks!"

When we got close enough to one of the cameras I sent another torrent of flames at it, melting it. The other cameras then retracted back into the statues, like they were scared they'd be next and the heads popped back into place. The lights shut off. The park went quiet again. I wondered if Olympus had gone to a commercial break, or if our ratings were any good.

Grover then took us back to the asphalt and placed Annabeth down.

I looked around the silent park. Ares had tricked us into coming here, he wanted us to look like idiots, but there was no way I was giving him the satisfaction. I hated being made a fool.

It was time to make Ares pay.

* * *

 **A/N And that's the chapter. I'd just like to say how very sorry I am for posting this chapter late, but I think that this chapter would be worth the wait. Honestly, I was going to only have Percy as a guinea pig for a little while then have Ares turn him back so he could do the quest, but this was such a better idea. Anyways, I really hope you enjoyed this chapter, leave a Review and tell me what you think, and if you really like it, Follow and Favorite.**

 **Goodbye me Greek geeks. Tide out.**


	20. The Oreo's explained

**Percy Jackson Son of Hearth and Sea: The Lightning Thief**

 **A/N Hello everyone! I'm really sorry that this chapter is more than two week late, but I just didn't have time to write because of my heap load of work and assignments from University, but now I'm on break so I should be all good. Anyways, I really hope you enjoy this chapter, leave a Review and tell me what you think, and if you really like it, Follow and Favorite.**

 **Reviews:**

 **Storyreader21: I was planning on doing that, but I don't think it would have turned out very well.**

 **Tula Thunder:** **Tantas preguntas que sólo se pueden responder leyendo la historia. No estoy estropeando nada.** ***Grins evilly***

 **TheLoneWander11: I'm glad you like it, and yes, I will keep writing the series. And my favorite character (after Percy Jackson of course) would have to be Thalia. The girl's a badass.**

 **Caroline (guest): I love them too, I make them up on the spot.**

 **Gabi (guest): Let's not kill uncle Rick just yet, I still want to see how the Percy Jackson franchise ends. We can kill him after he finishes the franchise.**

 **TheImmortalGuardian: I'm glad I can give you so much entertainment. (No sarcasm)**

 **reapertmn3: I know right, it's a great image.**

 **Me: Were done, let's move on with the story.**

 **Artemis: You are forgetting something.**

 **Me: What? No, I'm not.**

 **Artemis: *Pulls out knife***

 **Disclaimer: *gulps* I do not own PJO, all rights belong to good old Uncle Rick. And Artemis is crazy. Wait! No! Arty! I'm so-AAAAAAAAGGGGHHH!**

* * *

 **Chapter 20:**

We had come up with a plan, it was stupid and could get us killed, but we were too angry at the war god to give a damn. Even Annabeth agreed to the plan.

Ares was waiting outside the diner, in the parking lot. A huge grin on his face. I could feel his godly aura affecting me, making me angry.

Before he could say anything, Annabeth reared back the arm that held me in it and chucked me straight at the god of war's ugly head.

I squealed in anger, and partly excitement, and lit my whole body on fire. I zoomed to the god, surprise clearly evident on his scarred face.

Ares was so surprised he didn't do anything about it, I slammed straight into his face, Ares yelled in pain and recoiled backwards holding his face.

I landed back on the ground with a painful grunt, but quickly got back to my feet and tried to look as intimidating as I could as a small fuzzy rodent.

"Turn him back, Ares!" Annabeth screamed behind me.

Ares sneered at her. "And why should I do that?"

She lifted the shining bronze shield strapped to her arm scowling at him. I guess Ares's aura was affecting her too. "We've done what you asked, now you have to hold your end of the deal."

Ares frowned at us in obvious displeasure. "I should just turn you all into rodents and be done with you all," he sneered, making us all go a little tense. "But you put on such a nice show, I'm going to let you go." He then snapped his fingers and suddenly, everything started getting smaller and smaller, I could feel my bones growing and popping back into their proper places.

In seconds I was once again back in my own partly human body (I'm a demigod, I'm only half human. I didn't mean I was a satyr or something, weirdos). I looked down at my hands to see normal human hands, I reached up to my face rubbing over my teeth, my nose and every part making sure it wasn't still guinea pigged. My face split into a huge grin and I did a quick cheer for having my old body back. I turned back to face Annabeth and Grover, to see that they were looking at the sky there faces bright red. "You guys okay?" I asked them looking up to the sky to see what they were staring at. "Is there something above us?"

Annabeth kept stammering trying to come up with a response.

Grover cleared his throat still staring at the sky. "Umm ... Percy ... you should ... umm ... you should probably cover up."

"Huh?" Was all I could say. Suddenly, I felt a draft go all over my body giving me chills. I then looked down at myself and realized what they were talking about. I blushed a deep red that would have made the strawberries at Camp Half-Blood jealous. I covered my exposed privates with my hands and glowered at Ares. "ARES! Give me my clothes, now!"

"Sorry," he said not sounding the least bit sorry, "I guess I should have thought of that." He then snapped his fingers again and I was suddenly wearing the same clothes as Grover and Annabeth making me look like a walking advertisement. I quickly checked my pockets to find everything there, I let out a breath of relief. "Now," he said. "Give me my shield and I'll give you everything else you need."

Annabeth scowled at him and reluctantly handed him his shield. Well, more like shoved his shield into him.

Ares frowned but didn't do anything. He then threw the shield up like he was making pizza dough and in midair the shield flowed then landed back in his hands in the form of a bulletproof vest. He slung it across his shoulder and then pointed to an eighteen-wheeler truck. "That truck will take you all the way to L.A with one last stop at Vegas!"

The truck had a sign on the back, which I could fortunately read because it was white writing on a black background. Perfect for people with dyslexia. It read: KINDNESS INTERNATIONAL: HUMANE ZOO TRANSPORT, WARNING: LIVE WILD ANIMALS.

Ares snapped his fingers again and the back doors opened. "Free wide rest," he said, "and here's a little something extra for a job well done." He then pulled a blue nylon bad off the handle bars off his bike and threw it to me.

Inside were fresh clothes for all of us, twenty dollars in cash, a pouch full of golden drachmas and a bag of double stuff Oreo's. The last item, begrudgingly, made me happy.

I didn't want to take anything Ares had touched, but I knew it would be a very deadly insult to refuse something from a god and I really didn't want to be a guinea pig again. "Thank you Lord Ares," I said, my voice gushing out sarcasm, "for your kind and generous gifts."

Ares sneered at me again. "Be grateful that you met me and not one of the other Olympians, they aren't as forgiving of rudeness as I am."

I almost scoffed, if it was any other god we wouldn't even be in this position.

Ares kick started his bike and revved it a few times. "So long punks!" He said, then he roared down the street of Delancy.

"That wasn't very smart you guys," Grover spoke up for the first time.

We shrugged our shoulders at him.

I looked into the diner and saw two men wearing black coveralls that had the same logo of KINDNESS INTERNATIONAL truck on their backs paying their checks at the counter.

"Come on guys," I said. "I don't want anything to do with Ares, but that's our only option." They both mumbled their agreements and we quickly rushed over to the truck. We climbed in and closed the doors behind us.

The first thing that hit me was the smell. It was like the biggest pan of kitty litter.

The trailer was dark inside until I lit a small fire ball in my hand. The scene before me made my blood boil. Sitting in a row of filthy metal cages were three of the most pathetic zoo animals I'd ever seen: a zebra, male albino lion, and an antelope.

In the lion's cage was a sack of turnips, which he obviously didn't want to eat, while the zebra and the antelope got trays of hamburger meat. The zebra's mane was matted with wads of chewing gum, like someone had been spitting in it in their spare time. The antelope had a silver birthday balloon tied to one of its horns that read OVER THE HILL! The lion was pacing back and forth on soiled blankets, in a space that was way too small for him, panting from the stuffy heat from the trailer. He had eyes buzzing from his pink eyes and ribs showed from his white fur.

"This is kindness!?" Grover yelled. "Humane zoo transport?" For a nature loving peaceful satyr, Grover looked downright murderous. I couldn't blame him though, I probably would have torched the truckers alive.

Before we could go back outside to beat up the truckers, the engine came to life, the trailer started shaking, and we were forced to sit down or fall down causing the flame in my palm to be extinguished.

We huddled in the corner on some mildewed feed sacks, trying to ignore the smell the heat and the flies. I uncapped Riptide, the bronze blade giving off a bronze light so we could still see and I didn't have to use my powers. Plus, the heat would just make it worse.

Grover started talking with the animals in a series of goat bleats, but they just stared at him sadly. Annabeth was in favor of breaking the cages and freeing them on the spot, but I pointed out it wouldn't do much good until the truck stopped moving. Besides, I was pretty sure we looked a lot more appetizing to the lion than those turnips.

I found a water jug and refilled their bowls, then used Riptide to give the animals their proper food. The meat to the lion, and the turnips to the other two.

Grover calmed the antelope down, while Annabeth cut off the balloon from its horn with her knife. She also wanted to cut the gum out of the zebra's mane, but we didn't want to risk hurting the zebra while the trailer was bumping around.

We told Grover to tell the animals we'd help them more in the morning, then we settled in for the night.

Grover curled on a turnip sack; I opened our bag of Double Stuff Oreo's and started happily eating them, hoping that I could also be eating away my worries. We were halfway to L.A. Halfway to our destination. Today was June Fourteenth. Just seven days till the summer solstice meeting. We had plenty of time.

However, even with all my training and learning with the Hunters, I still had only a basic level of knowledge about the Underworld. I'm no child of Athena, so remembering all the names and stories was absolutely horrid. Zeus forbid I ever become a brain child.

Annabeth frowned at me, and I internally wondered if she maybe had some kind of mind-reading powers. "Okay, I have to ask," she said making me pause before I bit into my eighth Oreo. "What is with you and the Oreo's?"

"Huh?"

"The entire quest, you've either been fighting all-powerful monsters, or eating Oreo's." I blushed and grinned sheepishly. So she didn't read my mind. "Are you addicted or something?"

"What? No!" I protested.

I thought Grover was asleep so I was surprised when he gave an amused bleat. "Not addicted? When we were being chased by the Min- I mean, bull man, you were eating them like we weren't in any danger."

"Yeah, but-"

"And then when we were on the bus that went boom." Annabeth added helpfully.

"Look-"

"And then there was the time after Medusa's lair." Grover spoke up again, making me flush a deep red.

"Come on guys-"

"And then when we were going to the Arch-"

"Okay! I get it!" I yelled cutting Annabeth off of her sentence. "I'm addicted. There! I said it." Grover and Annabeth snickered, I swear even the other animals were laughing too. "It's not my fault, blame Tracy."

They stopped laughing and stared at me confused. They shared a glance and said at the same time, "Who?"

I face-palmed. "Right. You don't know who that is. She's a Hunter of Artemis that joined about a decade before I came. A daughter of Hermes." Grover and Annabeth sat forward, looking eager to listen to the upcoming story. "She was the Hunter who took care of me for most of my life. Anyway, we were on a hunt for a stray hellhound-"

 **Flashback:**

Tracy and I were racing through the streets of Charlotte, North Carolina. It was the middle of the night, and the only light provided was the occasional street lamps. We had been chasing the hellhound that's been terrorizing the place for more than an hour. We had almost lost track of it a few times, but thankfully, Tracy's tracking skills had kept us on its trail.

We spotted it once more going around the corner towards the local Walmart.

"There!" Tracy exclaimed, pointing to the almost invisible monster. We picked up our pace, our bows ready at our sides.

When we turned the corner, we saw the hellhound smash through the glass doors of the store and disappearing inside.

As we approached the smashed doors, we slowed our run until we were right in front of them, a single silver arrow notched.

"Why didn't the alarms go off?" I asked.

Tracy shrugged. "Maybe it's the mist." The way she said it made it sound more like a question. We stepped through the doors, glass crunching under our boots. I kept looking back and forth around the almost pitch black store, trying to find any sort of movement, the only source of light coming from our slightly glowing bows. "We should split up," Tracy whispered. "We can cover more distance."

"Good idea," I whispered back. "I'll go this way." Without waiting for a response, I headed down towards the right side of the store. As an afterthought I added, "And don't steal anything." I just got an indignant humph.

I checked down the dark aisles, stopping for a few seconds and moving onto the next when I didn't find anything.

As I was coming down to the last aisle, I heard a small growling sound coming from directly behind me. I spun around with my bow held out in front of me and released the arrow. The hellhound dodged it, jumping to its right. Before I could reach for another arrow the hellhound pounced at me and swiped it's paw at me sending me flying through the aisle and my bow tumbling out of my hand.

I landed on the hard ground on my back and heard some clattering along the floor around me. I rolled backwards and came up ready just in case it attacked me again, I glanced at the floor to see my arrows lying all over the place. "Hey Tracy!" I called out. "I found it!"

"Then kill it!" She yelled from somewhere with in the store.

"I dropped my bow!"

"Then use your sword!"

"I left it back in my tent!" The hellhound took that opportunity to charge at me with a nasty growl. "Aaah!" I yelled running away from the monster.

"Why would you leave it in your tent?" She asked me.

"Shut up and help me!" I shouted bolting out of the aisle. I did a small skid across the floor as I turned to me left, the hellhound slid straight into the shelves on the wall dropping various amounts of items on top of it including the shelf. I ran towards where I heard Tracy's voice coming from, the hellhound somewhere behind me.

I glanced back at the hellhound to see it pouncing at me, claws extended to tear me into mince meat. I really didn't want to become part of the stores products. Just as I was passing one of the alleys, I crashed into something, causing me to fall over and the hellhound to leap over my head.

"Oomph!" Was what I heard from what I ran into. "Bloody hell, Percy!" Tracy snapped at me. "You made me drop my bow!" Unfortunately, I didn't get to tell her that it wasn't my fault, the hellhound did it for me. No it didn't talk! Don't be silly. It just growled out us.

Tracy tilted her head back to look at the beast, it's glowing blood-red eyes bearing down on us. I also looked at it and saw Tracy's bow lying by it's paw and some of Tracy's arrows had fallen out of her quiver. She then put her arms around me and rolled us out of the way of the lunging demon dog.

Tracy pulled us both to our feet and dragged me down the aisle. I could hear the hellhound's claws scratching the marble floor. I turned back around and summoned fire into my palms ready to torch it, but before I could, Tracy swats my arms down extinguishing the flames.

"Hey! Why'd you-"

"What are you thinking, Percy?"Tracy asked incredulously. "You'll burn the whole store down." She pulls at my arm, signaling me to follow her. We both bolt back down the aisle.

"How do we kill it then?" I asked her. "We don't have our weapons."

"I still have my hunting knives," She replied, pulling out the silver crescent shaped foot long blades. We then took a right when we reached the end of the aisle. I could still hear the stupid monster running after us.

"That won't work," I said. "We'd get shredded before we got close, and we suck at knife throwing." I glanced behind us to see the hellhound skid out of the aisle and give chase after us.

Tracy stopped all of a sudden and turned on the approaching hellhound. I stopped a few meters behind her, curious as to what she was doing. She reared her arms back, clutching her knives, and before I could stop her she threw them in its direction with a yell.

She missed.

The knife that was in her left hand flew over the shelves, while the knife that was in her right hand sailed way over the hellhounds head. The hellhound kept charging at us, its red eyes glowing with amusement. Tracy dived into the aisle she was standing in front of before it's claws could reach her. Unfortunately for me, the hellhound didn't chase after her. Instead, it continued going after me.

I turned and bolted away. I kept running, the sound of the hellhound's breathing and footfalls right behind me. I spun around, knocking off some of the items on the shelves into it's face blinding it for a few seconds. I used my surprise to my advantage and took off down the aisle we were in front of.

We must've been in the cookie aisle because ... well, there were cookies on the shelves. The hellhound was quickly gaining on me. On instinct, I reached out and grabbed one of the cookie packets on the shelves. A wrapped cylinder of cookies was now in my hand, I turned around rearing back my arm to throw it and saw the hellhound already leaping at me, it's jaw wide open, ready to bite my head off. I gave a quick prayer to Artemis and threw the packet at the hellhound while also falling onto my back to avoid it.

What? No I didn't trip, that was totally meant to happen. Humph, no faith anymore.

Unlike Tracy, my aim was true and the packet went straight into it's mouth. The hellhound made a sort of choking noise, still in midair and tumbled across the ground. It kept making more choking sounds while stumbling all over the place.

I tried to be cool and do a ninja get-up. Key word, _tried._ I just landed on my butt again. I got up grumbling about needing to do more arm exercises. I looked to the still hacking and choking monster. Whatever it was I threw didn't want to leave it's throat.

The hellhound hacked a few more times, when finally it collapsed. I stared at it apprehensively for a few seconds. I wasn't sure whether it was actually unconscious or not. I reached into my quiver and felt a few arrows still in the quiver. I pulled one out and held it in an ice-pick grip. I slowly approached the hellhound, ready to stab it just in case it was faking.

When I was only a few feet away from it, it suddenly disintegrated into gold dust. I let out a breath of relief and put my arrow away. At the other side of the aisle, behind the disintegrated hellhound, Tracy came around the corner looking frantic, her bow was in her hands with a few arrows notched. When she saw me she let out a breath of relief. "Thank the gods, you're alright."

I grinned at her.

Tracy narrowed her eyes at me and said, "We are never to speak of this again."

I kept grinning.

She grumbled and kicked the pile of dust that was once a monster. Something flew out of the pile and landed in front of me. "What's that?" Tracy asked.

I picked it up and felt the familiar wrapped cylinder in my hands. "It's the cookies I threw at it," I said.

"Huh?"

I rolled my eyes. "I threw cookies at it. It choked and then it died."

"Oh. What kind of cookies are they?" She asked.

I shrugged and squinted at the packet, trying to see it better. The wrapping was blue which made me very happy. I turned it over in my hands and saw some bold writing on it. I looked closer to get a better look at what it said. I groaned when I realized what it was. "It's a packet of Oreo's."

Tracy pointed a triumphant finger at me. "Ha! I told you! Oreo's are life!"

I frowned and looked at the pile of dust. "Or death. They could also be death." You see, Tracy has always had a thing for Oreo's we all called her crazy because she was basically in love with them. I hadn't tried Oreo's before because I never really got a chance.

She sighed exasperated. "Gimme the packet."

"Why?"

"So I can open it, and eat it."

"What? No! You are not eating from this packet, it was in a monsters mouth." I said. I then threw the packet over the shelves. Tracy watched it go like it was a cute puppy she never got to pet.

I walked over to the shelves where I grabbed it from and picked one up. "I don't know why you're so obsessed with these," I said opening the packet. "I mean they're just cookies," I then took one out and took a bite out of it. My taste buds had lived.

 **Flashback End:**

"And that's why I became so obsessed with Oreo's." I said finishing off my story.

Grover and Annabeth stayed quiet for a while. It wasn't until I heard a small snorting sound come from Grover that I realized they were asleep, even the animals looked asleep. "HEY!" I yelled. They all sat upright, their eyes going wide.

"Huh?" Grover said sitting upright.

"You guys weren't listening to my story." I complained.

"Percy," Annabeth said tiredly. "You were talking for ages about what Oreo's tasted like. In very great detail."

"I did not talk for ages," I said indignantly.

"Yes you did." They both said at the same time.

I pouted. Grover and Annabeth snickered. We stayed in silence for about a minute, until Annabeth broke it. "Back at the car wash," she said, "did Luke really say nothing?"

I recalled my conversation with Luke and thought about what he had said. "Well, he said that you and him go way back, and something about nobody getting turned into a pine tree if Grover doesn't fail."

Even in the dim bronze light of the sword blade, I could see their expressions darken.

Grover let out a mournful bray. "I should've told you from the beginning." His voice trembled. "I thought if you knew what a failure I was, you wouldn't want me along."

"Why? Because Thalia made the choice of sacrificing herself to save you, Luke and Annabeth." Their eyes shot wide open, but Annabeth schooled herself quickly.

"You knew?" Grover asked.

I nodded my head. "Yeah, I knew for a while. The way you talked about Thalia made it kind of obvious."

Grover let out another mournful bray. "I was only supposed to bring Thalia. I had strict orders from Chiron: don't do anything that would slow down the rescue. We knew Hades was after her, see, but I couldn't just leave Luke and Annabeth by themselves. I thought ... I thought, I could lead all three of them to safety. It was my fault the Kindly Ones caught us. I froze. I got scared on my way back to camp and took some wrong turns. If I'd just been a little quicker ..."

"Stop it," Annabeth said. "No one blames you. Thalia didn't blame you either."

"Like Percy said, she sacrificed her life to save us," he said miserably. "Thalia's death was my fault. The Council of Cloven Elders said so."

"It wasn't your fault Grover." I said. It's not like you told Thalia to sacrifice herself. She made that decision on her own."

"He's right," Annabeth said. "I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for you, and neither would Luke."

Grover kept sniffling in the dark. "It's just my luck, I'm the lamest satyr ever, and I find the two most powerful half-bloods of the century, Thalia and Percy."

"You're not lame," Annabeth insisted. "You've got more courage than any satyr I've ever met. Name one other who would dare to go to the Underworld. I bet Percy is really glad you're here right now."

She kicked me in the shin.

"Ow, not necessary." I complained, rubbing my shin. "But yes, I'm glad you're here Grover, and it's not luck you found me and Thalia. You've got the biggest heart of any satyr ever. That's why you'll be the one who finds Pan."

Grover let out a satisfied sigh. I waited for him to say something, but his breathing only got heavier. When it turned to snoring, I realized he had fallen asleep.

"How does he do that?" I asked.

"I don't know," Annabeth shrugged. "But that was a really nice thing you told him."

"I meant it."

We rode in silence for a few miles, bumping around on the feed sacks. The zebra munched a turnip. The lion licked the last of the hamburger meat off his lips and turned to me hopefully, like it was saying: _Hey, got any of those Oreo's you're addicted to._ Annabeth rubbed her necklace like she was thinking deep strategic thoughts.

"That pine tree bead," I said. "Is it from your first year at camp?"

She looked. She hadn't realized what she had been doing.

"Yeah," she said. "Every August, the counselors pick the most important event of the summer and they paint it on that year's beads. I've got Thalia's pine tree, a Greek trireme on fire, a centaur in a prom dress - now _that_ was a weird summer ..."

"And that ring," I said hesitantly. "Is that your father's?"

"That's none of your-" She stopped herself. "Yeah. Yeah, it is."

"It's okay, you don't have to tell me."

"No, I want to." She took a shaky breath. "My dad sent it to me folded up in a letter, two summers ago. The ring was, like, his main keepsake from Athena. He wouldn't have gotten through his doctoral program in Harvard without her ... That's a long story. Anyway, he said he wanted me to have it. He apologized for being a jerk, said he loved me and missed me. He wanted me to come and live with him."

"I'm guessing it didn't go very well."

She chuckled bitterly. "No it didn't. My stepmom was the same as ever. Didn't want to put _her_ kids in danger by living with a freak. Monsters attacked. We argued. Monsters attacked. We argued. I didn't even make it through winter break. I called Chiron and came right back to Camp Half-Blood."

"You think you'll ever try living with your dad again?"

She looked down at her lap, not meeting my eyes. "Please. I'm not into self-inflicted pain."

"But you still want to try, don't you?" Although it came out as a question, it was more of a statement.

"What are you talking about?"

"You might be telling yourself that you don't need him, but deep down, you really want to be a family with him."

"You don't know what I want." She said icily.

"Actually, in a way, I do," I said. "My mother is Hestia goddess of family, so I can sort of have a sixth sense for things like this. I could feel it coming from a lot of the campers."

She was still avoiding my eyes, but I could see tears pricking at her eye. "Yeah, that's the dream isn't it?"

There was another short silence. "You know, if you want," I said. "I can put in a good word for you to my mom. Help bring you're family closer."

She looked at me critically, trying to find any sort of deception. "You'd really do that?" I nodded my head. "Why?"

"Because you're my friend Wise Girl, any more stupid questions?" She didn't say anything, but she didn't need to the right smile was enough.

We rode for a few more miles. I thought about the other thing Luke had said, about the cabins taking sides. I thought of I should tell Annabeth about it, but I decided not to, I didn't want to worry her.

"So if the gods fight," I said, "will it be like the Trojan war? Will it be, Poseidon versus Athena?"

She put her head against the backpack Ares had given us, and closed her eyes. "I don't know what my mom will do, but neither do I care. I just know that I'll fight next you."

"Why?"

She grinned. "Because you're my friend Seaweed Brain, anymore stupid questions?"

I grinned crookedly.

"Plus," she said giving a yawn. "I don't think I could beat you in a fight." And with that, she fell asleep.

I looked at her surprised. It was well known for the children of Athena to be extremely prideful, so hearing one throw their pride away like that for me made me really glad that I had a friend like that. I thought about one of the lines of the prophecy. _You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend._ She didn't just call me a friend, she is my friend. Thinking that, I put all my worries away and followed her example falling asleep in a stinky, noisy truck while a lion stared at me hungrily.

* * *

 **A/N That's it everyone, I know it's late again, and again I'm really sorry, but I should be getting back into it properly now, I was also planning to get this out on Monday, but I kept rewriting it because I couldn't get it right, but now I got it right. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, leave a Review and tell me what you think, and if you really like it, Follow and Favorite.**

 **Goodbye my Greek geeks. Tide out.**


	21. What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas

**Percy Jackson Son of Hearth and Sea: The Lightning Thief**

 **A/N: Hello my Percy peeps. It's me again. I'd first like to say that I am so sorry that this is almost three weeks late, but you will forgive me for it when you read this chapter because I can definitely tell you that this chapter is going to be an absolute doozy. And I think you've guessed that I won't be updating on the days that I said I would, but I will be updating whenever I can and I will not be abandoning this story, no matter what. I swear it on the River Styx. I'm honestly really excited for your guys reaction, so on that note, leave a Review and tell me what you think, and if you really like it Follow and Favorite.**

 **Disclaimer: Why Rick? Why? Why don't I own PJO? *sniffles***

 **Artemis: Because you suck.**

 **Me: Ouch, Arty. So blunt.**

 **Artemis: But my arrows aren't.**

 **Me: ...**

* * *

 **Chapter 21:**

I had a dream. Shocker, right?

It started like any normal dream. (By demigod standards). I was sitting in a classroom wearing a straitjacket, being forced to take a standardized test. The other kids were all headed out for recess, and the teacher kept saying, _Come on, Percy. You're not stupid, are you? Pick up your pencil._

Then the dream strayed from the usual. I looked over at the next desk to see a girl sitting there, also wearing a straitjacket. She was my age, with unruly black hair that went to just below her shoulders. She had freckles splashed across her nose, but what really stood out were her eyes. They were a blue color that reminded me of the ocean, but depending on the angle you saw them from they changed to a brilliant green color.

She looked really familiar, like it should have been obvious who she was. I tried to think of where I had seen her before, when it hit me. This was Thalia, daughter of Zeus. She looked just like the girl who I had seen before at the hunt, only her hair was a little longer.

She struggled in her straitjacket, turned to me, and raised an eyebrow at me like, _What are you still doing here?_ then said, "Well? What are you waiting for? One of us has to get out of here."

 _She's right_ , my dream-self thought. _I'm going back to that cavern. I'm going to give Hades a piece of my mind._ (Quite literally, if you think about it).

The straitjacket melted off me. I fell through the classroom floor. The last thing I saw of Thalia, was a lopsided grin of approval. The teachers voice changed until it was cold and evil, echoing from the depths of a great chasm.

 _Percy Jackson,_ it said. _Yes, the exchange went well, I see._ I was again back in the dark cavern, spirits of the dead drifting around me. Unseen in the pit, the monstrous thing was speaking, but this time it wasn't addressing me. The numbing power of its voice seemed directed somewhere else. _And he suspects nothing?_ It asked.

Another voice, one I almost recognized, answered at my shoulder. "Nothing, my lord. He is as ignorant as the rest."

I looked over, but no one was there. The speaker was invisible.

 _Deception upon deception,_ the thing in the pit mused aloud. _Excellent._

"Truly, my lord," said the voice next to me, "you are well-named the Crooked One." My blood went ice cold at the name. I knew that title, it was used to address only one being, one that every creature feared. "But was it really necessary? I could have brought you what I stole directly-"

 _You?_ The Crooked One said in scorn. _You have already shown your limits. You would have failed me completely had I not intervened._

"But, my lord-"

 _Peace, little servant. Our six months have bought us much. Zeus's anger has grown. The others two remain as oblivious as ever. Poseidon has played his most desperate card. Now we shall use it against him. Shortly you shall have the reward you wish, and your revenge. As soon as both items are delivered into my hands … but wait. He is here._

"What?" The invisible servant suddenly sounded tense. "You summoned him, my lord?"

 _No,_ the full force of the evil voice was now pouring over me, freezing me in place. _Blast his godly blood – he is too changeable, too unpredictable. The boy brought himself hither._ This would have been the point where I gave the voice some kind of retort, but I was too shocked by the events of what had just happened to say anything.

"Impossible!" The servant cried.

 _For a weakling such as you, perhaps,_ the voice snarled. Then it's cold power turned back on me. _So … you wish to dream of your quest, young half-blood? Then I will oblige._

The scene started to change, I could see a throne room that reminded me of my dad's, except this one was dark and shadowy, with black walls and bronze floors. The empty throne was made of human bones. From the shadows, spirits started making their way towards me.

I came back to my senses.

No way was I going to let him manipulate me. I concentrated and poured all my willpower into going back into that cave. The scene started changing again, until I could make out the dark cavern again.

The voice spoke again, but this time I could hear surprise and shock. _Impossible._

I kept concentrating. I wasn't sure what it was I wanted to achieve, but I kept doing it anyway. Suddenly I felt a tug in my gut, flames appeared in my hands. The became more painful, the flames spread till it was covering me entirely. The tug in my gut increased until the pain became excruciating. The flames turned from orange to a brilliant blue. I started screaming.

 _No, stop this!_ The voice snarled.

"My lord," the servant said, "What is happening?"

 _The boy is resisting._

I screamed louder, the pain in my gut becoming unbearable. And with one loud roar, the bright blue flames burst out, away from my body, I heard the two voices scream, and then I passed out.

Only to be woken with a start.

I was breathing heavily, I could feel sweat on my forehead. I blinked the blurriness from my eyes and rubbed the sweat away. I then realized that I was still holding the last pack of Oreo's in one hand and Riptide in the other.

"Percy?" I heard. I looked. Annabeth and Grover were standing just a few feet away looking at me concerned. "Are you ok?" It was Annabeth who asked.

I nodded my head weakly. "Yeah," I said, "just a bad dream."

Grover bleated disbelievingly. "That's an understatement."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You caught fire a few times," Annabeth said. "What was your dream about?"

I stayed silent and thought about what had happened in my dream. It was all too much, there were so many things that were to be considered, but before I could answer her, the truck came to a stop and the engine shut off. We stayed silent and listened for noise outside. I could hear whistling coming from one of the sides of the trailer towards the backend where the doors were.

We all shared look and an understanding came between us. _Hide!_

Annabeth had it the easiest, she just slipped on her invisibility cap and she was good. Grover and I had to dive behind some feed sacks and hope that we looked like turnips. I capped Riptide and stuffed it in my pocket.

The trailer doors creaked open. Sunlight and heat poured in.

"Man!" One of the truckers said, waving his hand in front of his ugly nose. "I wish I hauled appliances." He climbed inside and poured some water from a jug into the animals' dishes. "You hot, big boy?" He asked the lion, then splashed the rest of the bucket in the lion's face.

The lion roared in indignation.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," the man said.

Next to me, under the turnip sacks, Grover tensed. Right now, he looked a lot more dangerous than the lion.

The trucker threw the antelope a squashed-looking Happy Meal bag. He smirked at the zebra. "How ya doin', Stripes? Least we'll be getting rid of _you_ this stop. You like magic shows? You're gonna love this one. They're gonna saw you in half!"

I sneered at the trucker. (I could've used a different word, but I didn't want to plague all your minds). I was about to use a magic trick on him. The disappearing trucker.

The zebra, wild-eyed with fear, looked straight at me. There was no sound, but as clear as day, I heard it say: _Free me, lord. Please._

I was too stunned to react.

There was loud _knock, knock, knock,_ on the side of the trailer.

The trucker inside with us yelled, "What do you want, Eddie?"

A voice outside – it must've been Eddie's – shouted back, "Maurice? What'd ya say?"

"What are you banging for?"

 _Knock, knock, knock._

Outside, Eddie yelled, "What banging?"

Our guy, Maurice, rolled his eyes and went back outside, cursing at Eddie for being an idiot.

A second later, Annabeth appeared next to me. She must've done the banging to get Maurice out of the trailer. She said, "This transport business can't be legal."

"No kidding," Grover said. He paused, as if listening. "The lion says these guys are animal smugglers!"

 _That's right,_ the zebra's voice said in my head.

"We've got to free them!" Grover said. He and Annabeth looked at me, waiting for my lead.

I stared at the zebra, stunned that I had understood it. I wasn't sure how, I had never heard any other animals talk to me before, so this was kind of new. I then remembered my father had created horses. Was a zebra close enough to a horse? That was probably why I could understand it. Maybe my connection to horses had something to do with it.

The zebra said, _Open my cage, lord. Please. I'll be fine after that._

Outside, Eddie and Maurice were still yelling at each other, but I knew they'd be coming inside to torment the animals again any minute. I grabbed Riptide out of my pocket and slashed the lock off the zebra's cage.

The zebra burst out of its cage. It turned to me and bowed. _Thank you, lord._

Grover held up his hands and said something to the zebra in goat talk, like a blessing.

Just as Maurice was poking his head back inside to check out the noise, the zebra leaped over him and into the street.

There was yelling and screaming and cars honking. We rushed to the doors of the trailer in time to see the zebra galloping down a wide boulevard lined with hotels and casinos and glowing signs. We'd just released a zebra into Las Vegas.

Maurice and Eddie ran after it, with a few policemen chasing them, shouting, "Hey! You need a permit for that!"

"Now would be a good time to leave," Annabeth said.

"The other animals first," Grover said.

I cut the locks with my sword. Grover raised his hands and spoke the same goat-blessing he'd used on the zebra. The antelope and the lion burst out of their cages and went off together into the streets. The lion letting out loud menacing roars. Tourists screamed, most just backed off and took pictures, probably thinking it was some kind of stunt by one of the casinos.

"Will the animals be okay?" I asked Grover. "I mean, the desert and all-"

"Don't worry," he said. "I placed a satyr's sanctuary on them."

"Meaning?"

"They'll reach the wild safely," he said. "They'll find water, water, food shade, whatever they need until they find a safe place to live."

"Why can't you place a blessing like that on us?" I asked.

"It only works on wild animals."

"So, it would only affect Percy," Annabeth reasoned.

I groaned and mumbled, "You're never going to let the guinea pig thing go, are you?"

Annabeth grinned at me. "Who said anything about being a guinea pig?" Grover snickered, I glared at him. Before I could protest, she jumped out of the truck and walked off into the desert heat. Grover and I followed her.

We walked around Las Vegas for a while, looking like complete bums. No one payed us any attention though, because they were mainly focused on the wild animals, plus, it didn't really bother me because I was still eating Oreo's. We passed the Monte Carlo, the MGM, the pyramids and a pirate ship. When we passed by the replica of the Statue of Liberty, we stopped to have a look at it. Annabeth was spouting facts about the original and how it was made by two guys, one of them being a son of Athena. It was actually kind of interesting.

I was about to grab another Oreo from the packet when suddenly, someone runs by and snatches the Oreo's straight out of my hands. The person yelled, "These are Oreo's are my bae now, scrub!"

I was too stunned to do anything. I couldn't believe what had just happened. I stared wide-eyed at my now empty hand. A random mortal had just stolen my Oreo's. Annabeth looked at me sympathetically, and Grover patted me on the back in a _there, there,_ kind of way.

I looked to the direction the person was running and spotted the person holding _MY_ packet of Oreo's. I still couldn't tell if the person was a boy or a girl, because person was wearing a hoodie. On the back of the hoodie were three pictures.

At the top was a symbol. There was a large box of blue on the left and a smaller box of reed on the right. In the middle of the boxes was a white video game controller, and written in the blue box were the letters 'MLG'.

Underneath that, was the picture of a character I had seen on a TV show some of the kids back at Yancy watched. I think the kind of show was called an anime, and the name of the show was Pokémon. The character on the hoodie was one of the Pokémon called Arcanine.

And underneath that were the numbers '858'.

As soon as I had finished analyzing the culprit I gave chase.

"Percy, wait!" Annabeth yelled.

I ignored her, the only thing going through my mind was, _NOBODY STEALS MY OREO'S!_

The person glanced behind him/her and his/her eyes widened in surprise. The person turned back around and started running even faster. I also picked up the pace, not wanting to let him/her out of my sights. We raced through the Las Vegas streets, darting around other pedestrians. It felt like I was on a hunt, and the cookie thief was my prey. We kept running, I was vaguely aware of Grover and Annabeth trying to keep up.

The cookie thief took us through some turns and alleyways, I even ended up having to slide over the hood of a black BMW M3 when cookie thief ran across traffic, the cars we ran in front of honked their horns and cursed at us.

After about another ten minutes, cookie thief took another turn, disappearing around the corner. I followed him/her, but when I came around the corner, there was no sign of the cookie thief. I looked around but it was empty.

There was no one there except for a doorman in front of a casino. The casino entrance was a huge neon flower, the petals lighting and blinking a bright pink. The hotel was called 'The Lotus Hotel and Casino'.

No one was going in or coming out, but the gleaming chrome doors were open, spilling out air-conditioning that smelled like flowers - lotus blossom, maybe.

Grover and Annabeth came around the corner breathing hard. When they saw me just standing there Grover collapsed onto the floor, and Annabeth keeled over. Both of them were sweating like crazy, I just realized that I was also sweating a little bit. I wiped it away.

I turned back to the doorman and approached him. The doorman turned to me and smiled. "Hey there kids. You look tired. You want to come on inside and sit down?"

"Umm, yeah, sure," I said. "Did you see someone with a hoodie run by here? Probably holding a packet of Oreo's."

The doorman rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Yeah, I did," he said. "Looked to be in one hell of a rush too."

"Thanks," I said. "We'll be out of there soon."

The doorman chuckled. "Don't worry, take all the time you need. Welcome to the Lotus Hotel and Casino."

Grover and Annabeth caught up to me once they finished catching their breath. Together, we walked into the casino, the cool air refreshing me.

We took one look around and together we said, "Whoa."

This wasn't a casino. It was a freaking amusement park!

Snaking around the glass elevator was a massive water slide that went at least forty floors up. On one side of the building was a rock climbing wall, and on the other was an indoor bungee-jumping bridge. There were virtual-reality suits with real working laser guns. Hundreds of video games were scattered all over the place, each one the size of a widescreen TV. Basically, you name it, and this place had it. There were other kids playing at the video games, but not many, so there was no waiting for any of the games. There were waitresses and snack bars with all kinds of food imaginable. But what really took the prize was the massive twisting and turning roller-coaster. That's right, _roller-coaster._

Grover pointed towards it and said, "Is that a-"

I nodded my head numbly. I wouldn't have been surprised if my jaw was hanging on the floor. I looked around the room again, and I already knew that I would probably never find the cookie thief again.

"Hey!" A bellhop greeted us. At least I think he was a bellhop. He wore a white-and-yellow Hawaii shirt with lotus designs, shorts, and flip-flops. "Welcome to the Lotus Casino. Here are your room keys."

I stammered, "What? B-but, we're not ... I mean-"

The bellhop laughed. "Don't worry, the bill's already taken care of. No extra charges, no tips. Just go on to the top floor, room 4001. If you need anything, like extra bubbles for the hot tub, or skeet targets for the shooting range, or whatever, just call the front desk. Here are your Lotus Cash cards. They work on everything here, restaurant, rides, games and so on." He handed us each a green plastic card with the Lotus logo on it.

I wondered if maybe this guy had mixed us up with a bunch of other millionaire's kids, but that was hard to believe considering that we looked like we belonged to Waterland Park. "How much is on these?" I asked him.

His eyebrows knit together. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, when do these run out of money?"

He laughed. "Oh, you're making a joke. Hey, that's cool. Enjoy your stay." And with that he walked off.

I turned to my companions. "So? What do you think?"

Annabeth looked around the casino and said, "I think this would be a good time to relax. We still have a lot of time before the summer solstice deadline."

Grover and I agreed. We took the elevator upstairs and checked out our room. It was a suite with three separate bedrooms and a bar stocked with candy, soda, and chips. A hotline to room service. Fluffy towels with water beds and feathered pillows. A big-screen TV with satellite and high-speed Internet. Out on the balcony was a hot tub, and just like the bellhop said, there was a skeet-shooting machine with a shotgun, so you could launch clay pigeons into the Las Vegas skyline and plug them with your shotgun. The view over the Strip and the desert was amazing, but I wasn't sure we'd actually have time to appreciate it when staying in a hotel like this.

"Oh, goodness," Annabeth said. "This place is ..."

"Sweet," Grover finished. "Absolutely sweet."

There were clothes in the closet, and they fit me. I frowned thinking how it was a little strange, but shrugged it off as nothing. I threw Ares' backpack in the trash can. Wouldn't need that anymore. When we left, I could just charge for another one at the hotel store.

I then did the greatest thing that I could ever do. I took a nice long, hot shower. After going through a week without bathing, it was literally the most refreshing thing I had ever done. I changed my clothes, ate a bag of chips, (okay, several bags of chips), drank three cokes, and came out feeling better than I ever had in a very long time. In the back of my mind, there was something that kept nagging me, some kind of problem. I'd had a dream or something ... I needed to talk to my friends, and there was something else, something about this place felt familiar. But, dreams weren't that bad, I was sure it could wait, and this place was awesome, I don't know how anything could have been wrong with it.

I came out of the bedroom and found Grover and Annabeth had also showered and changed clothes. Grover was eating a bag of chips to his heart's content, while Annabeth cranked up the National Geographic Channel.

"All those channels," I told her, "and you turn on National Geographic. Are you insane?"

"It's interesting."

"I feel good," Grover said. "I love this place." Without his even realizing it, the wings sprouted out of his shoes and lifted him a foot off the ground, then back down again. What made it look even better was that he was standing directly under a ceiling light and the TV was playing chirping birds.

"So, what now?" Annabeth asked. "Sleep?"

Grover and I shared a look and with a grin we pulled out our green Lotus Cash cards.

"Play time." I said.

I couldn't remember the last time I had so much fun. Sure, there were fun moments in the Hunt, but nothing compared to the fun I had here.

I bungee-jumped in the lobby five or six times, coming only six or seven feet off the ground. I went on the roller-coaster four times, went down the water slide, snowboarded the artificial ski slope, and played virtual-reality laser tag and FBI sharpshooter. I saw Grover a few times, going from game to game. He really liked the reverse hunter one, where you're the deer and you have to shoot the rednecks. It was honestly kind of scary watching him play.

I saw Annabeth playing trivia games and other brainiac stuff. They had this huge 3D Sim game where you build your own city, and you could actually see the holographic buildings rise on the display board. I didn't think much of it, but Annabeth looked like someone had just given her several puppies as gifts.

I had just finished playing on some more games when I had gotten hungry. I got some food from the buffet table in the food court, (okay, I got a lot of food), and I was looking for a place to sit, when I noticed two kids sitting at a table. A boy and a girl. The boy looked ten and the girl looked about twelve. I could tell they were siblings because they both had the same olive skin and black hair. The only strange thing about them was their clothes. They looked like something people wore in in the forties.

Despite their strange clothing, I made my way towards them. The two looked like they were in deep conversation, and were both using a lot of hand gestures as they talked.

"Hey," I said, startling the two. "Mind if I sit here?" I asked with a friendly smile.

The girl was looking at me slightly agape, like she couldn't believe I was talking to her. The boy just smiled at me and said, "Sure."

I sat down next to the boy. "I'm Percy, by the way."

"Hi, Percy," said the boy. "I'm Nico, and that's my sister, Bianca." At closer look, I could see the color of their eyes. A dark onyx color.

"Hi, Bianca," I greeted.

"Hi," she said shyly.

"Whoa, are you going to eat all that?" Nico asked disbelievingly.

I grinned at him. "What? Don't believe I'll finish it all?"

Bianca snorted. "Please, not even Nico can eat that much, and he's like a garbage disposal."

I grinned wider. "You're on."

 **Ten minutes later:**

Bianca and Nico gaped at me as I polished off the last of my food. In total, there was about twenty-three buffalo wings, eight tacos, three steaks, two packets of fries, and a plate of buttered chicken. I patted my stomach letting out a satisfied sigh.

"How did you-?"

"Where did it all go?" Bianca asked.

I just shrugged my shoulders and grinned at her. I looked back over to the buffet table. "I could really go for some dessert," I said, looking at all the different desserts on the table.

"Dessert?!" Bianca yelled incredulously. "How can you still be hungry after eating all that?"

"Where did it all go?" Nico asked in wonder.

I laughed at their shocked expressions. "It went to a magical and mystical land, far far away." I told him, putting an arm around his shoulder and sweeping my arm slowly in front of us for emphasis.

"Whoa," Nico said in amazement.

"Oh no," Bianca grumbled.

"Bianca!" Nico cried, bouncing in his seat with pure excitement. "What if it went to the land of the gods?"

Bianca groaned. "Nico! Don't you dare start talking about that silly card game again. And if it went anywhere it was most likely it went to a bottomless pit." The way she talked reminded me of how a mother would scold their child.

I wasn't sure what it was, but I suddenly felt like someone had just asked me if I studied for a test, and I didn't even know there was a test to study for. It had something to with the gods, and maybe, one of them being my mother? Or was it my father? And what was that about a bottomless pit?

"Hey, Percy?" And just like that, my train of thought crashed. "You okay?" Bianca asked. "You blanked out for a second there."

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said. "Just lost in thoughts. Anyways, you mentioned something about a card game, what kind of card game?"

Nico gave a face splitting grin. He reached into his pockets of his strange clothes and pulled out what looked like a dozen cards. "It's this new card game I found," he said. "It's called Mythomagic, and basically, it's a card collecting game about the Greek gods. You know like, Zeus and Poseidon and Apollo ..."

He went on with explaining about how the game worked, but I had stopped listening. My blood had run cold and my throat had gone as dry as a desert. I remembered why I was here in the first place. I was on a quest with my friends, Grover and Annabeth, and we were looking for the bolt of Zeus. I wasn't sure why it was a big deal when we had only been in here for maybe a few hours, but something told me we had to get out right now. Something about this place felt wrong, and familiar.

Medusa's lair.

This place had the same effect on me as it did at Medusa's lair. Which meant this place was probably crawling with monsters? I looked around the hotel area and looked at the people here trying to find any sign of monsters. But all I saw was more people wearing all types of clothing from different time periods. I saw some kid that looked like an Elvis impersonator, I saw another person in eighties disco clothes, and soon more people in old clothes started popping up. I thought that maybe today was some kind of old time festival, but there was no sign or anything that indicated so, and there were also other people wearing modern day clothes.

Nico started waving his hand in front of me, snapping me out of my thoughts. "Hey, Percy. Are you okay? You spaced out again," Nico said looking slightly worried. I blinked a few times.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," I said trying to sound reassuring. The silence suddenly got awkward with none of us knowing what to say. "So... What do you guys think of this place?" I asked trying to get rid of the awkwardness.

Nico grinned. "This place is awesome! I can't believe that they could fit all this cool stuff in here! And the games are incredible!"

"But the staff are weird," Bianca added. After seeing my questioning look she continued, "Some of the staff members seem strange."

"Strange how?"

"Forget it. You'd think I was crazy." She said shaking her head.

"Try me." I said grinning a little bit.

She stayed silent for a little bit, obviously thinking of whether to tell me when, finally, she seemed to trust me. "I ... I'm not sure exactly what it is. But some of the staff members here just ... just don't feel right. It's like a gut feeling, like they're not supposed to be here."

"I get that too," Nico spoke up. However, his voice wasn't coming from next to me. I turned around to see Nico, carrying a tray full of different desserts and snacks. I stared at him shocked because one: I didn't even hear him or see him move from his spot, and two: that was a lot of dessert.

"Nico ... When did you-?" I trailed off a little stunned that he had managed to sneak away so silently.

He grinned sheepishly. "Oh. Umm ... You said you wanted some dessert, which made me want some dessert, so, umm ... I got us all dessert."

I blinked a few times. "Oh. Thanks, Nico."

He smiled and then placed the tray on the table. He eagerly took one of the bowls of ice-cream and was about to take a bite when he suddenly stopped, his mouth open and the spoon halfway to his mouth. His eyes were filled with fear and he had gone a little bit pale.

I looked to where he was looking to see a truly terrifying sight. Bianca was glaring at Nico, her arms crossed across her chest. "Nico," she said dangerously slowly. "You've already had dessert."

"Yeah-but-I mean-come on Bianca. Just a little bit more." He pleads.

Bianca kept glaring for a little bit longer but eventually sighed. "Fine you can have a little bit more."

Nico fist pumped. "Yes!"

I chuckled at the interaction of the two siblings. I wasn't sure why, but I suddenly had a yearning for a sibling bond like that. But as quick as it came it was gone. We then started eating our desserts again. "So, you were saying about the staff."

"Oh yeah," Nico said in between mouthfuls of ice-cream. "One time, when one of the staff was asking me if I needed help, I swear for a second, his skin turned grey."

"Skin turned grey?"

"Yeah. But it was probably just my imagination," He said with a shrug.

We continued making small talk for a few minutes. I learned that the two were orphans and were brought to the casino by a family lawyer and they've been here for only a few weeks. When I had asked them about their 'strange' clothing, they both looked at me weird and said that the clothing was normal clothing for them and that the more people came in, the stranger our clothing got.

"Bianca," Nico said, squirming in his seat. "I have to go."

Bianca groaned. " _Dio mio,_ Nico. Come on, I'll take you to the bathroom." She was about to get up, but Nico stopped her.

"Actually, can Percy take me?" He asked tentatively.

"Why do you want Percy to take you?" Bianca asked confused. I was kind of confused too.

Nico shrugged. He started talking in another language I couldn't understand. It sounded a little bit like Italian. They exchanged some words between each other making me feel a little bit uncomfortable.

Eventually, Bianca asked me in English, "Percy, would it be a problem for you if you took Nico to the bathroom?"

I was still kind of confused why he wanted me to go with him instead of his sister, but I didn't really see the problem. "Nah, it's cool. I can take him."

She smiled at me. "Great!"

Nico and I both got out of our seats and headed towards the toilet area. When we were about halfway there I asked Nico, "Why'd you want me to take you?"

He jogged in front of me and stopped, blocking my path. "I think my sister likes you."

"Huh?" I said stupidly.

"And I just want you to know that if you break her heart, I'll break your face," he said glaring at me. For a ten year old boy, his glare was pretty scary. "Kapeesh?"

"Kapeesh," I said nodding my head still kind of confused.

He smiled looking quite pleased with himself, "Good. Glad we could clear that out."

A few minutes later, after Nico had finished with his business, we went back over to our table where Bianca was still sitting. But something was different, I swear that there was more food earlier.

"Bianca!" Nico said cheerily. "Can we go play on the games some more?"

Bianca smiled at us and said, "Yeah alright, you want to join us Percy?"

I smiled apologetically. "Nah that's alright, you guys go ahead."

Bianca looked a little disappointed. "Oh, ok then."

It was then that I noticed something at the corner of her mouth. I chuckled a bit. "Bianca you have a little ..." I pointed to the corner of my mouth on my right.

Her eyes widened a little and she wiped the right corner of her mouth, where the small piece of food wasn't.

I chuckled again. "You missed," I said. I then used my thumb to wipe the food off her face. Her cheeks went bright red.

"Umm, er, th-thanks," she stammered. She cleared her throat and composed herself a little bit. "Anyways, I guess I'll see you around?" She asked, sounding a bit hopeful.

I smiled at her. "Sure."

"Well, um ... bye," She said with a small wave. She then turned grabbed Nico's hand and started to walk off.

Nico turned to me smiling widely. "Bye Percy!" He called.

"See ya, Nico!" I called back.

Once the two were gone, I flipped back into my seat and thought about what the conversation had made me realize. I was in some kind of place that had an effect similar to Medusa's lair, people were wearing clothes from different time periods, but nobody seemed fazed about it. The staff were probably part of whatever this was according to Bianca and Nico. I still had a few questions on my mind that I needed answered. I got up from my table, the desserts untouched and went to go get some answers. As a second thought, I took a bowl of cookies and cream ice-cream.

I walked around the lobby and went towards the guy that looked like an Elvis impersonator's son, playing at the VR shooter game. He looked about thirteen, but his clothes were kind of weird. He wore bell-bottom jeans and a red T-shirt with black piping, and his hair was permed and gelled like New Jersey girls on homecoming night.

I simply watched him play for a little while, eating my ice-cream. When he finished a mission in the game he said, "Groovy. Been here two weeks, and the games just keep getting better and better."

 _Groovy?_ I was pretty sure that nobody said 'Groovy' anymore.

While he was waiting for the game to start up again, I, being my stupid self, stupidly blurted out, "Hey, what year is it?"

The guy turned to me, confusion written all over his face. "What?"

"What year is it?" I repeated.

He had to think about it. "Uhhh, I don't know," he said with a shrug. "1977."

I choked on my ice-cream.

"W-what?" I spluttered.

"Look man," he said turning back to his game. "Bad vibes. I got a game happening." He ignored me from then.

I started going around the hotel, asking people the same question, but it wasn't easy. They were glued to the TV screen, or the video game, or their food, or whatever. Someone said it was 1993, another said it was 1985 and another said it was 1943. They claimed they had only been here for a few days, or few weeks at the most. They didn't know and they didn't care.

It was then that it finally came to me. A small memory of someone dressed in silver, telling me about a place that trapped people and kept them held in time with some sort of powerful magic. The person had copper skin, with dark brown eyes. For a scary second, I couldn't remember her name. Zoë. Zoë Nightshade. She was a Hunter of Artemis. Then it all came back to me. This was the place that Zoë had told me about, trapping people here for decades, never being able to leave. I had been here for what seemed to be only a few hours, but how long was it really?"

With my memories somewhat back in place, I started looking for Annabeth.

I found her still building her city.

I walked straight up to her and grabbed her hand, trying to pull her away from the game. She pulled back annoyed. "Annabeth, come on," I told her. "We need to get out of here."

"What are you talking about?" She asked sounding just as annoyed as she looked.

"This place is a trap," I said.

She rolled her eyes probably thinking I was messing with her. "Whatever, Percy. I'm trying to build a city, so, excuse me," she turned around, going back to the simulator.

I growled in frustration. This was going to be a lot harder than I thought. I grabbed Annabeth by the shoulders and turned her around so she was facing me. "Annabeth, there are people here from 1931. People who have never aged."

Annabeth squirmed in my arms trying to get free. "Let me go, Percy," she said through gritted teeth.

I frowned. There was only one thing left I could do that would snap her out of the trance. I grabbed both sides of her head and forced her to look directly into my eyes. I stared back into her stormy grey eyes for a few seconds and watched as her cheeks became a rosy color. "Spiders," I said. "Giant, hairy spiders."

Her eyes widened with fear and I saw her visibly shudder. She blinked a few times. "Oh gods. How long have we-"

"I don't know, but we have to find Grover."

"Excuse me," a man spoke. I turned to look and saw that it was one of the hotel staff. "Are you kids okay?" He asked.

I wasn't sure if this guy was a monster or not. He didn't give off any sort of feeling that he was dangerous, he looked just like a regular guy. But I knew better than to be too trusting, my experience on this quest was proof enough. I decided to just play it cool instead of just stabbing him.

"Yeah, we're fine," I said, forcing on a smile. "Just having a difference of opinion on the building structure." I nudged Annabeth.

"Right," Annabeth agreed. "You see, I was thinking of-" She then started explaining of what she was planning to do with her building, and coming up with some excuse I apparently said, about having it structured differently. I'm not really sure, but she knew what she was talking about, so I just let her talk. The staff member also lost interest in what she was talking about, because smiled at us, told us to have fun and walked away.

I was kind of surprised that that worked. We then left to go and find Grover. We found him still playing that Virtual-Reverse-Deer-Hunting game. He was pretty into it.

"DIE, HUMAN! DIE, SILLY POLLUTING NASTY PERSON!"

"Grover!" We both shouted.

"DIE, MOTHERF*!"

"Grover!"

He turned the plastic gun on me and started clicking madly, as if I were another image from the screen.

Annabeth and I shared a look, and together we took him by the arms and dragged him away from the game. His flying shoes sprang to life and started tugging his legs in the other direction as he shouted, "No! They must pay! They must all pay!"

We pinned him to the floor, both of us holding one side of him. He thrashed around on the floor trying to throw us off.

"Grover. Calm down," Annabeth said.

He didn't listen.

"Sorry, G-man," I muttered. I pinched a spot on Grover's neck and he instantly stopped thrashing and fell unconscious. We hauled him to his feet and made our way towards the doors of the Lotus Casino.

There was just one problem.

Some of the hotel staff were standing at the entrance.

To normal people this would have looked pretty harmless, but there were a few subtle hints that I could see that showed that they were wary of our approach. They kept glancing towards us, their shoulders were tense and their hands were kept by their hips, right next to their batons.

Wait a minute. _Batons?_

I looked around and the lobby and saw that a bunch of other staff members were also eyeing us from all around. I quickly changed direction and headed towards some seats, much to the confusion of Annabeth.

"Percy, what are you doing?" She hissed.

I kept flicking my attention towards the hotel staff as I answered, "The staff won't let us leave, they're trying to keep us here."

Annabeth also started looking around, her stormy grey eyes analyzing the staff's every move. She cursed in Ancient Greek. "How do we lose them?"

"I'm not sure," I whispered back. "Maybe if we-" And that's when I saw it. A hoodie with the pictures of three different things on the back. 'MLGARCANINE858'. And in said person's hand was a blue packet of _Oreo's._ I didn't even realize I had stopped walking until Annabeth started waving her hand in front of my face.

"Percy, they're getting closer," she said alarmed.

And indeed, they were. They tried to make it look subtle, but they were clearly coming towards us. I looked back to 'MLG' to see him/her headed towards the lobby elevator. I kept looking back and forth between the guards and 'MLG' conflicted about what I should do. My verdict was given when 'MLG' ate an Oreo cookie _WHOLE._

"Take care of Grover, I'll distract them," I told Annabeth. Then I bolted towards 'MLG'.

"Wait! What?! Percy, where are you going?!" Annabeth shouted. But I ignored her. If someone is going to steal my cookies, they might as well just eat them properly.

 **(A/N Prepare, readers, for the badassness that is Percy Jackson - For an even better badass experience, play some sick beats)**

As I was running towards the elevator, one of the staff members jumps out from behind a game, 'blocking' my path.

I kept running towards him and just as I had gotten within few feet of him, I jumped in the air and drop kicked him in the chest. The staff member flew back a few feet and landed on his back. Just before I hit the ground, I roll backwards getting back to my feet.

I continue my way towards the elevator, running over the staff member's groin and face just for extra measure.

"Hey! Stop him!" I hear someone yell.

Unfortunately, that also caught the attention of 'MLG' who turned to me. Even though I couldn't see his/her face with the hoodie on, I could still tell that he/she was surprised. 'MLG' quickly turned back around and ran the rest of the way to the elevator. I doubled my pace, wanting to catch up with the Oreo thief, but I was just too slow.

'MLG' burst into the elevator and started smashing the button. I reached the elevator doors just as they finished closing. From what I could see from under the hoodie, 'MLG' was sticking his/her tongue out at me as the glass elevator rode up.

I glared at 'MLG'. I heard a splash come from my left-hand side. I turned to see the water slide that twisted around the elevator.

Crazy idea time.

I felt a tingling sensation on the back of my neck, and instinctively ducked out of the way of another staff member's baton.

While his arm was still swinging, I spun around and sucker punched him in the stomach. The staff member hunched over. I then lifted my arms above my head, intertwined my fingers together and struck him from above. I kneed him in the face straight after.

The man fell onto his back, clutching his most probably broken nose.

"Quick! Stop him!" A Lotus attendant yelled.

I ran away from the elevators towards the swimming pool where the water slide ended.

Another staff member blocked my way, this one holding a metal baton in his hand. I pulled Anaklusmos out of my pocket and uncapped it. The staff member took a swing at me, but I easily deflected it. The man readjusted his grip on the baton so that he was holding the part sticking out on the side and was holding it with the long part going down his arm to his elbow.

I slashed Riptide at him, he raised his arm to block it, but it didn't go his way. Riptide cut straight through his baton, and cut through his arm.

That's right, it didn't pass through him, it cut his arm off. The man wailed in agony and clutched his severed crumbling arm. _Hold up... crumbling?_

At the stump of his arm, instead of blood flowing out, the man's flesh was becoming grey, and slowly crumbling away.

"What the-?" Before I could question the guy, I heard footsteps headed in my direction. A group of the hotel staff were making their way towards me. Five men, and three women. I looked up to the elevator to see it still climbing.

I turned back around, punched the crumbling arm guy in the face and finished my short journey to the pool.

Just as I reached the edge, I willed the water to rise and make a platform where I could stand. The water did just that and I jumped on top of it. I then willed the water to keep me afloat and rocketed myself forwards.

I had done this plenty of times during my training at the Hunt, so this was pretty second nature to me. In short, I'm riding a wave.

I made my way towards the water slide, apologizing to all the people swimming as I passed by them.

I reached the water slide and started my way up it, going against the way the water was going. I kept going up and up, doing all the twists and turns up the water slide as fast as I could.

When I reached the seventeenth floor, something whistled past my head.

"Whoa!" I exclaimed. I looked to the floors I was near and saw the cause of it. Some more staff members were by the railings of the floors, holding guns! Thankfully, they weren't something like AK-47's, they looked more like tranquilizer guns.

They started to open fire, the bullets only narrowly missing me. I willed a wall of water to protect me from the oncoming fire, I willed it to become denser. It must have worked because the bullets got caught in the water or slowed down enough that they weren't trouble anymore. I also saw that the bullets weren't actually bullets and were indeed tranquilizer darts.

As I was passing one of the floors that had some of the shooters, I made the wall of water disappear and threw Anaklusmos, that was still in my hand at a maid. The bronze spun towards her, catching her by surprise and then piercing her chest. The maid screamed and then burst into flames instantly. Her body being turned to ash.

So none of these guys were humans. They were some kind of monsters, but which monster, I had no idea.

Now I knew that for sure, these people weren't normal, I summoned my bow and arrows and started picking them off every time I came around to face them, sometimes lighting my arrows on fire. The elevator was still going up which meant that it was most likely headed for the top floor. I continued firing off my arrows at the Lotus staff, already having taken down a dozen of them. The strange thing was that some of them didn't burst into flames and simply crumbled into golden dust like monsters would. So not everyone here was the same monster. Some of them were one kind and some another kind.

When I went to shoot another staff member, I lit my arrow on fire and fired it at him.

That was a big mistake. The staff member saw it coming and dived out of the way.

The flaming arrow hit a fire extinguisher. Only one thought went through my head.

 _Uh oh._

BOOOOM!!!

The tank exploded in a fiery blaze, blowing apart some of the objects around it like the wall as well as destroying the few staff members that were near it. I could hear the panicked screams and yells of the hotel guests. I decided to stop using flaming arrows.

As I was coming around another turn on the water slide, two people came sliding down. I recognized them instantly as Nico and Bianca, with the latter sliding behind the former, her arms wrapped protectively around him. Their eyes widened to the size of dinner plates when they saw me. Just as they came within a few feet of me I flipped over them launching another arrow at another Lotus staff.

"Hey guys!" I yelled to the siblings, as I passed over them. Their eyes were wide with surprise. "Bye guys!" I yelled when I landed on another wave of water behind them.

From some unseen loudspeakers, a voice was saying, "Dear guests, please remain calm. The situation is under control."

I was coming up to the end of the water slide. I notched two arrows into my bow and kept myself ready. I reached the end of the slide, and standing there was half a dozen staff members. I fired my two arrows into the closest two. The arrows hit the targets in the chest, causing them to burst into flames. I thrust out my hands and sent a wall of water at them throwing them back.

I ran past the spluttering people and headed for the elevator. I saw 'MLG' exit the elevator. He/she turned in my direction, and then bolted the other way. I notched an arrow, took aim, and fired. The arrow whistled through the air and caught the packet of Oreo's with its tip embedding it into the wall.

'MLG' turned around, hands raised above him/her in surrender. "Okay! Okay! I give up! You can have your Oreo's back!" 'MLG' shouted. The strange thing was even when he/she was talking I still couldn't tell if the person was a boy or a girl, or what his/her age was.

I stalked my way towards the Oreo's, glaring at 'MLG' the whole time. I turned away from 'MLG' when I plucked the arrow out of the wall. When I took the packet off the arrow, it felt incredibly light. I looked inside to only see _one_ Oreo.

I scowled at the packet and spun around to 'MLG', "Hey! There's only one-" But I stopped abruptly when I realized there was no one there to shout at. I looked left and right, but there was no sign of the mysterious cookie thief, he/she had just simply vanished. I looked across the level I was on and only saw the staff members here, none of the guests.

I ran over to the railing and looked down. I searched all over, but still saw no sign of 'MLG'. While I was searching for 'MLG', I caught sight of Grover and Annabeth fighting off some staff members that were on the floor.

I was about to make my way back to the water slide to help them, but the four other Lotus staff had recovered from their unexpected swim and we're now charging me, holding batons and tranquilizer pistols. I turned in the opposite direction, stuffing the Oreo's into my pocket.

Through the noise coming from all around me, I heard the distinct sound of a gun being cocked. Instincts kicked in and I jumped to the side towards the floor's rail. I landed on top of it, crouched and leaped off it, jumping into the air back towards the hall. As I jumped I twisted my body around preparing to fire the arrow I still had in my hand. I faced the four staff members and fired my arrow at the waitress that was pointing the gun at me.

The arrow plunged into her chest, killing her instantly. As soon as I touched the ground, I rolled around and continued running the other way. I was passing a room door when suddenly, a maid burst out wielding a baton. She lifted it above her head for an over-head-strike, but I caught the strike and judo-flipped her over me.

I pulled an arrow out of my quiver, twirled it in my hand and then plunged it into her forehead. She burst into golden dust straight after.

I twirled the arrow again and notched it into my bow and fired it into another staff member. He burst into flames too.

From behind the remaining two staff members, another half dozen suddenly poured into the hallway.

 _Nope._

I don't have to tell you what I did. Fine, I'll tell you. I ran the other way.

I kept dodging and weaving, avoiding all the tranquilizer's that were being shot at me. I couldn't risk using my fire powers again, I would probably burn the place down.

Eventually I had run around all the way to the bungee jumping platform. I couldn't take the stairs down because they kept coming up and blocking my way.

I ran into a problem as I reached that area. Quite literally.

Another dozen staff members were coming from the opposite direction, blocking my path. I came to a halt and notched an arrow threateningly at them. They slowed down to a stop, around ten feet in front of me.

Footsteps were heard behind me, and I turned around and pointed my bow at them making them stop.

I backed up towards the bungee platform as the staff slowly surrounded me. I was trapped. There was way too many of them, even I couldn't hold all of them off without causing some serious damage. The man on the loudspeaker was still talking and I could still hear the hotel guests' panicked voices.

"Come along now, Percy," one of the staff members said. "Let's not do anymore unnecessary damage."

I glared at the staff members. "Who are you people?"

The same staff member - who I guess was their leader - some again. "That doesn't matter right now," he spoke evenly. "What does matter is that you are not allowed to leave this place."

I took a quick look around, trying to come up with a plan to get out of this spot. I was a few feet from the edge of the bungee platform. Right next to my feet was the bungee chord rolled up. I looked across the floor I was on to see some other staff members holding tranquilizer rifles all aimed at me, even some on the levels below me. But it was on the walls that I saw them.

I took a quick glance again. There were three fire extinguishers I could see. One to my right on the other side of the room one floor below this one, and another to my left and one directly behind the staff right in front of me. I had to fight back the smirk that I was going to have on my face.

That's right you guessed it. Crazy idea time.

"So," I said. "You've been doing this for a long time?"

The staff looked at me slightly bemused. While some of the others laughed. "Dear boy, small talk will not help you now. You just might as well surrender."

I sighed. "Yeah, I guess you're right." They looked only slightly taken aback that I seemed to give in so easily. "I guess I better just give up." (Can you hear the sarcasm).

I took my arrow from its ready position from my bow and made it look like I was putting my arrow back in its quiver. Instead I grabbed two more arrows and turned to my left. I lit the arrows on fire, notched one and fired it towards the fire extinguisher. Without checking if it would hit or not, I turned a 180 getting down onto one knee, notched my second flaming arrow and fired it at the other extinguisher on the lower level.

"Fire!" The staff member yelled.

I faced my body to my left, notched the last arrow and fired. Everything seemed to go in slow motion. The flaming arrow whistled towards it target, some of the staff members simply watching it fly by. I made my bow and arrows disappear, grabbed the bungee chord with my left hand, and just as I could hear shots being fired, leaped off the platform, still facing the staff member with a smirk on my face.

To my left one explosion was heard. I wrapped the bungee chord around my arm as I twisted my body around. A second explosion was heard coming from my original right. I could hear the panicked screams of the hotel guests below me. I could see them all scattering and running away from the video games and heading for the exit doors. The last explosion went off behind me. This time, the sound of the staff members screams sounded behind me.

I was now diving headfirst towards the lobby floor. A bunch of screaming evil Lotus Casino staff falling right behind me. Jumping off of another high place brought back memories of when I tackled the Chimera at St Louis. Shaking off my off-topic thoughts, I reached onto my pocket and brought out Anaklusmos that had once a lagoon returned to my pocket. I uncapped the lid with my thumb and kept my arms by my side.

The wind was battering my face and ruffling my hair. I had to time this right or else, I would become the opposite of a delicious blue pancake. For those of you who don't get it, a red disgusting blob of nastiness.

The floor came closer, and closer, and closer. When it looked like I was about to hit the ground, the bungee chord pulled on my arm pulling me back upright with my arm raised above me. The chord pulled painfully on my arm, almost coming to it highest reach capacity, and just before it could launch me back up I slashed the chord with Riptide, cutting it clean off.

I landed on my knees with a grunt. Around me, Lotus staff members bodied splattered across the lobby floor. Exploding into gold dust and occasionally bursting into flames. I ran off towards the exit, dropping the rest of the bungee chord onto the floor. I ran to where the hotel guests were headed and joined them in running out the casino.

I pulled Riptide's pen cap out of my pocket and recapped it, changing it back to it's original form.

Just before I could reach the lobby doors a familiar voice called, "Percy!" I stopped in my tracks and looked to see Grover and Annabeth jogging over to me. The latter looking quite angry while Grover looked at me like I was about to die.

When they reached me, Annabeth straightaway slapped me across the face. I rubbed the cheek she had slapped and was about to ask her why she slapped me, but I bit my tongue when I saw the angry look on her face that basically said it all.

"I deserved that," I said sheepishly.

She then surprised me by giving me a hug. "I'm glad you're alright Seaweed Brain."

"What were those explosions about?" Grover asked.

"I'll tell you guys later. For now, we need to get out of here," I said not wanting to spend another second in this cursed place.

Outside the casino, the hotel guests were all chatting and yelling frightened to one another. We made our way through them trying to get to the sidewalk. I wondered if Nico and Bianca were alright.

It felt like afternoon, like the day we had gone inside the casino, but something was wrong. The weather was different. It was stormy and heat lightning flashed across the sky.

Suddenly, I felt a weight on my shoulders, I looked to see the backpack Ares had given me, on my back once again. That was odd because I was sure I thrown this in the trash back in room 4001, but right now I had bigger things to worry about.

Once we reached the end of the panicking crowd we ran away from the place.

I looked for the nearest newspaper stand and quickly pulled out the newspaper for today, checking the date. I sighed in relief. It was still the same year. Still the same month. But it said today was the twentieth.

We had been in the casino for five days.

Which left only one day left until the summer solstice. One day to finish our quest.

 **A/N Finally! Finally! It's done! Three weeks of hard work finally finished! Guys! You have no idea how relieved I am to have finally finished this chapter! This chapter was an absolute blast to make though, it is honestly my favorite chapter right now. I'd just like to say, thank you everyone for being so patient for this chapter, I know that it is suuuuper late, but can you really be mad when I give you a chapter like this? Secondly, I want to say that it's absolutely awesome that people are still reading and following this story even though it was probably on like page 100. And lastly I'd just like to once again swear on the River Styx that I will not ever abandon this story I matter what happens. Anyways, I seriously hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, leave a Review and please tell me what you thought, and if you really liked it Follow and Favorite.**

 **Goodbye my Greek geeks. Tide out.**


	22. I meet some movie stars

**Percy Jackson Son of Hearth and Sea: The Lightning Thief**

 **A/N Hello again good people of the internet! Once again, I have a new chapter for all the good people out there. I'd like to start off by saying that the Review's for last chapter were absolutely crazy XD So many of you guys were diving me opinions and suggestions, especially 'mlgarcanince858'. It was absolutely crazy.**

 **I literally only meant it to be a one time thing simply because of a review 'mlgarcanine858' said: "gr8 chapter Oreos are bae if u don't update tomorrow I'll steal all your Oreos scrub." This one review was literally my inspiration for last chapter, so big thank you to 'mlgarcanine858' for your unintentional help :) I'm also surprised to see that nobody commented anything about Percy's dream at the start of the chapter. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, leave a Review and tell me what you think, and if you really like, Follow and Favorite.**

 **Reviews:**

 **TheyBleedRed: I'm really glad you love this story so much. And don't worry, I don't plan on abandoning this story anytime soon.**

 **Guest: Hahahahahahaha XD you're funny.**

 **ShinichiKudo7: Thank you, and in a way Bianca and Nico will be playing a bigger role, but I'm not saying what. And is it going to be a Percy x Bianca? We can only wait and find out :)**

 **PuddlePirATEpro: Hahahahahahaha XD you're hilarious**

 **Darren100: ..**

 **NinjaFang1331: Thank you :)**

 **Mlgarcanine858: Okay … wow. This is one hell of a review. Correction. This a hell lot of reviews. Honestly, this review made me laugh, and it took me way too long to read what you actually wrote XD *clears throat* You are very welcome my good man. I'm really glad that you're glad that you were in this story. And I'll take it into consideration about adding you once more in the story, but I can't guarantee anything** **. I'm also very happy that this story has gotten you so much into Oreos XD I honestly was not expecting that.**

 **Death Fury: I'm not just writing a sequel. I'm going to write until HOO BOO, and further.**

 **CYKA BLAYT IDI: ?_? What just happened?**

 **Stygian stapler and JPBBX ftw: I'm not sure how to reply to this.**

 **Swimybo: *grins* Yes, yes I do.**

 **Disclaimer (Artemis): Riptide013 is unavailable to do this himself because he is currently crying in a corner about how he does not own PJO or anything else in this chapter.**

 **Me (in the distance): Whyyyyyy?!**

* * *

 **Chapter 22:**

It was Annabeth's idea.

She loaded us up into the back of a Vegas Taxi as if we actually had money, and told the driver, "Los Angeles, please."

The cab driver chewed his cigar and sized us up. "That's three hundred miles. For that, you gotta pay up front."

"You accept casino debit cards?" Annabeth asked.

He shrugged. "Some of 'em. Same as credit cards. I gotta swipe 'em through first."

Annabeth handed him her green Lotus Cash card.

He looked at it skeptically.

"Swipe it," Annabeth invited.

He did. His meter machine started rattling. The lights flashed. Finally, an infinity symbol came up next to the dollar sign.

The cigar fell out of the driver's mouth.

He looked back to us, his eyes wide. "Where to in Los Angeles … Uh, Your Highness?"

Annabeth sat up a little straighter, obviously pleased with the 'Your Highness' thing. "Santa Monica Pier. Get us there fast, and you can keep the change."

I wasn't exactly pro, for the idea of giving the man a debit card with limitless amounts of cash on it (especially with what some of the Hunt members had told me about most of them), but he did live up to the expectation of getting us there fast.

The trip had given us plenty of time to talk. I told Annabeth and Grover about my latest dream, but it only got sketchier the more I tried to remember it. The Lotus Casino seemed to have short-circuited my memory.

I could feel that some parts of my dream were missing. I vaguely remembered there was a girl at the beginning of my dream that had a somewhat of a likeliness to Thalia Grace when I had first seen her at the Hunt.

I remembered there was someone else with the evil voice, but I couldn't recall what the invisible servant's voice had sounded like, though I was sure it was somebody I knew. The servant had also called the monster in the pit something other than 'my lord', but for the life of me I couldn't remember what it was the servant said.

My two friends stayed quiet for some time, processing the information I had given to them. "The Silent One?" Annabeth suggested, "The Rich One, maybe? Both of those are nicknames for Hades."

"I don't know," I murmured.

"That throne room sounds like Hades's," Grover said. "That's the way it's usually described."

I shook my head. "Something's wrong. The throne room wasn't the main part of the dream. And that voice from the pit … I don't know. It just didn't feel like a god's voice."

Annabeth's eyes widened.

"What?" I asked.

"Oh … nothing. I was just—No, it _has_ to be Hades. Maybe he sent this thief, the invisible person, to get the master bolt, and something went wrong—"

"Like what?"

"I—I don't know," she said. "But if he stole Zeus's symbol of power from Olympus, and the gods were hunting him, I mean, a lot of things could go wrong. So this thief had to hide the bolt, or he lost it somehow. Anyway, he failed to bring it to Hades. That's what the voice said in your dream right? The guy failed. That would explain what the furies were searching for when they came after us on the bus. Maybe they thought we had retrieved the bolt." I wasn't sure what was wrong with her. She looked pale.

"But that doesn't make any sense," I said. "If Hades wants me to bring the bolt to him, wouldn't that mean he doesn't have the bolt?"

"No," Annabeth insisted. "Hades has to have it. If it's not …" Annabeth let the unfinished sentence hang in the air.

Wasteland rolled by. We passed a sign that read CALIFORNIA STATE LINE, 12 MILES.

I got the feeling I was missing one simple, critical piece of information. It was like when I stared at a common word I should know, but I couldn't make sense of it because one or two letters were floating around. The more I thought about my quest, the more I was sure that confronting Hades wasn't the real answer. There was something else going on, something even more dangerous.

The problem was: we were hurtling towards the Underworld at ninety-five miles an hour, clinging onto hope that Hades did have the bolt. We didn't have a lot of time to change our minds. So, if we got there and found out we were wrong, we wouldn't have enough time to correct ourselves. The solstice deadline would pass and war would begin.

"The answer is in the Underworld," Annabeth assured me. "You saw the spirits of the dead, Percy. There's only one place that could be. We're doing the right thing."

She tried boosting morale by suggesting clever strategies for getting into the Underworld, but my heart wasn't in it. There were just too many unknown factors. It was like cramming for a test without knowing the subject. There was also the fact that now, with the solstice deadline so close, I couldn't do the one thing I had been wanting to do my whole life since I had found out I was living in a world of myth and monsters. And that was to save my mother.

The cab dropped us off at Santa Monica beach at around sunset. It looked exactly the way L.A. beaches do in the movies, only it smelled worse. There were carnival rides lining the Pier, palm trees lining the sidewalks, homeless people sleeping in the sand dunes, and surfers waiting for the perfect wave.

Grover, Annabeth, and I walked to the edge of the surf.

"What now?" Annabeth asked.

The Pacific was turning gold in the sunset. It had been so long since I had been by the ocean, by the sea. I had tried avoiding it out of bitterness of my father, for not being there for my mother and I, for leaving us to our given fates. But my mother, Hestia, had told me my father had a saying of some sorts. 'What belongs to the sea, will always return to the sea.' I knew this was true, because whenever I was near the sea, I could always feel a pull towards it, like it was calling me..

I could feel the sea calling out to me here. This time, I answered it's call. I stepped into the surf.

"Percy?" Annabeth said. "What are you doing?"

I kept walking, up to my waist, then my chest.

She called after me, "You know how polluted that water is? They're all kinds of toxic-"

That's when my head went under.

I walked down the shoals, breathing as I would on land.

I shouldn't have been able to see through all the murk, but somehow I could tell where everything was. I could sense the rolling texture of the bottom. I could make out sand-dollar colonies dotting the sandbars. I could see the currents, warm and cold streams swirling together.

But most of all, I felt whole. I felt like a piece of me that had been missing had made itself a part of me again.

I was so enraptured in my thoughts and surroundings, I didn't notice the creature that had approached me until I bumped straight into it. I looked, and almost shot out the water like a ballistic missile. Floating right in front of me was a twelve-foot-long great white shark.

I stared wide-eyed at the massive beast in front of me.

I was about to make a swim for it when I heard three voices say. " _Hello Mi'Lord."_ I froze. A few realizations came to me. The first thing I realized was that I just been called 'Lord'. The second thing was that I swear I heard the voices in my head. The last thing I realized was there were three voices.

I looked to the right of the shark, and floating next to it was a nine-foot-long hammerhead shark.

I looked to the left of the great white. A five-foot-long mako shark was floating there, a rusty hook coming out it's nostril. (I swear that they were grinning at me.)

I blinked once, twice, thrice, and said, "Huh?"

Not my best moment I know, but you go underwater, find three of the world's most deadliest sharks, hear them call you 'Lord' and come up with a good response.

 _"Are you the son of the sea god?"_ The great white asked me. I wasn't sure how I knew it was the great white talking to me, I just knew.

"Um, yeah?" I responded.

 _"We are to bring you to your fathers messenger,"_ The hammerhead said.

I nodded my head not really trusting my voice.

 _"Well then,"_ said the mako, " _What are we waiting for? Follow us."_

With that, the mako spun around and started swimming off. The other two sharks groaned.

 _"Chum!"_ The hammerhead called, " _At least wait for the little guy."_ He had also spun around and started swimming after the mako.

The great white groaned even louder. " _Come along now, time's a-wasting."_

Shaking myself out of my stupefied daze, I swam after the three sharks in the direction they were headed. Once I caught up to them I slowed down so I was swimming just above the great white.

We stayed silent for a little while, but it was broken by the sound of one of the sharks humming. It sounded like some kind of tune.

"So..." I said awkwardly. "Do you guys have names?"

The humming stopped and the mako replied instantly. " _Of course we do, friend. I'm Chum!"_

 _"I'm Anchor,"_ said the hammerhead.

 _"And I am Bruce,"_ said the great white.

"I'm Percy."

 _"It's very nice to meet you, Lord Percy,"_ said Bruce.

I blushed a little when he called me 'Lord'. "Why do you keep calling me Lord?" I asked him.

 _"You're Poseidon's son,"_ Bruce answered. " _He is the King of the seas, which makes you the Prince."_

I felt stupid. Seven years as a half-blood and not once did that occur to me.

There was another silence and Chum started humming again. "What are you humming?" I asked him.

 _"Hm?"_ He said distractedly. " _Oh, it's a song our fish friend taught us."_

I raised an eyebrow. "Fish friend?"

 _"Yes,"_ Anchor piped up. " _Funny little fella she was."_

Chum giggled. " _Made Brucey over here go all crazy."_

Bruce groaned like he had heard this a thousand times. " _When will you let it go? It was two years ago."_

 _"It still doesn't change the fact that you almost broke our rule,"_ Anchor replied.

 _"Whatever,"_ Bruce grumbled.

"Whoa, hold up," I said. "What are you guys talking about?"

 _"Well, you see,"_ started Anchor. _"Some_ _years ago, we met a couple of fish that were traveling the ocean looking for another fish that went missing._ "

 _"But that's another story entirely,"_ Bruce interjected.

 _"So, anyways. The two fish ... uhh ... what were there names?"_ Anchor asked.

 _"I think their names were Dora and Monkey,"_ Chum responded.

This story sounded really familiar, but I couldn't quite tell why.

 _No, no,_ Bruce disagreed. _That wasn't it._

 _Well, whatever their names were,_ Anchor continued, _the three of us were just swimming around, minding our own business when we found them._

 _Of course, being sharks, we only thought it would be proper of we introduced ourselves to them,_ Bruce said, continuing with the story.

"Hold up," I interrupted. "Why would you think it's proper to introduce yourselves to a fish?" I asked slightly incredulously.

 _Well, because of our one rule,_ Bruce answered.

"And that is?"

 _"Fish are friends,_ not _food,"_ They all answered at the same time.

"Wait. Isn't that from a movie," I asked suspiciously.

" _What's a movie?"_ Questioned Bruce.

I was about to explain what a movie was, but thought better of it realizing that they were just sharks. As if they knew what the Hades a TV actually was. "Never mind."

We continued swimming further down into the darkness, and Chum started humming that tune again. The one which I just now realized is from Finding Nemo. We soon came upon an ocean proper, where the sand bank dropped off into a huge chasm. It was like standing at the edge of the Grand Canyon at midnight, not being able to see much, but knowing the void was right there.

A voice called out, _"Ah-haha, you are just in time."_ The voice was male and had what sounded like a Jamaican accent. I looked around for who had said that, but saw no one. " _Down here, little Prince."_ I looked.

It was a crab.

 _There's no way,_ I thought.

 _"Hello little Prince, I am Sebastian, royal servant to your brother, Lord Triton,"_ he said. This day just kept getting weirder and weirder, first Finding Nemo, and now the Little Mermaid. Even with all the incredulous thoughts of this not being possible, I kept my cool.

"Are you the messenger?" I asked him.

He chuckled like it was amusing what I said. _"No, she is."_ I was about to question who, but suddenly a figure started to rise out of the darkness. I could make out the form of a girl, and she looked like she was coming up on some kind of sea animal. But as she got closer, I realized that there was no sea creature.

That was her tail. She was a real-life mermaid.

She came closer and I could see more distinguishable features. She had silky red hair that flowed behind her like waves, fair skin and big bright blue eyes. Her tail was a green color, and she was only wearing a purple sea-shell bra that covered her bust. My face was probably as bright red as her hair. The Hunters never wore any revealing clothing so to see a girl wearing something so revealing was incredibly uncomfortable for me.

She was now floating in front of me, a bright smile plastered on her face. _"I present to you, Princess Ariel, daughter of Triton,"_ Sebastian announced.

He gave such a good announcement I bowed. Ariel giggled. "Please, there is no need to bow." She looked to somewhere behind me and smiled a little bit more. "Hello Bruce, hello Anchor, hello Chum." I had forgotten they were still there.

 _"Hello Princess,"_ they all responded.

"You didn't give our guest any problems did you?"

 _"No Princess."_

"Good, then you may leave, Oscar is having a party again and you three are invited." She told them.

 _"Really?"_ Chum asked sounding excited.

"Yes, now swim along," she said with a wave of her hands. The three sharks all swam off at high speeds down into the darkness. This Oscar guy must have thrown some cool parties.

"Who's Oscar?" I questioned her.

"Oh, he's just a local fish who managed to bring fish and sharks together." She said nonchalantly.

 _Another one,_ I thought. _Sure, why not._

Ariel tilted her head ever so slightly to the side. "You look confused," she said.

"Well of course I'm confused," I said a little bit too rudely. "How is it possible that those sharks are alive, how is it you're alive? I thought you were just characters from a movie."

Instead of looking angry, she gave me a look like she knew something I didn't. "And how do you think those films came to be? People believe Heracles was just a story made up by people, yet he is very much alive. My father whispers ideas into the ears of men whenever a new tale comes to surface. Uhh, no pun intended. But what you call TV on the surface we call Sea-V down here."

I was pretty sure that if I wasn't a demigod, I probably would have passed out from all the overwhelming thoughts.

Sebastian cleared his throat. I absentmindedly wondered if a crab even had a throat, or if they did, do they ever actually need to clear their throats. _"Princess, the message,"_ he reminded her.

"Right," Ariel said giving a curt nod. "We do not have much time, so I will keep this as brief as possible." I stood silent, waiting for whatever it is she wanted to tell me. She held out her hand and three white pearls flashed in her palm. "You travel to Hades' realm. Few mortals have ever done this and survived; Orpheus who had great music skill; Heracles; who had great strength; Houdini who could even escape the depths of Tartarus. Do you have these talents?"

"Well ... umm, no."

"Maybe not, but you have something else, Percy. You have gifts you have only begun to know. The oracles have foretold a great and terrible future for you, should you survive to manhood. Grandfather would not have you die before your time. Therefore take these, and when in need, smash them at your feet." She handed me the pearls.

"What will happen?"

"That," she said, "depends on the need. But remember: what belongs to the sea-"

"-Will always return to the sea." I finished.

She gave me a soft smile. "Good luck, Percy Jackson."

* * *

 **A/N First off I'd just to say sorry for the incredibly late update. For a while I had just lost a bit of motivation to finish writing this chapter, but remembering my promise and a talk with my best friend I managed to finish writing. I know it's not a lot, especially after disappearing for a month, but there will be more next chapter. And an announcement. Just last week, a specific topic of fanfic had gotten popular. SYOC. And I have been accepted into three of them. I'm seriously excited for the stories and you guys can check it out. The stories are "Defenders of Olympus by To A Sayian Pride Is All: and "Hestia's Warrior's by lucario0406" and "Rise of the Pit by CassieHU" The stories haven't actually started yet and the only one to post an actual chapter is To A Sayian Pride Is All. Anyways, that's all for now, so I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, leave a Review and tell me what you think, and if you really liked it, Follow and Favorite.**

 **Goodbye my Greek geeks. Tide out.**


	23. I go a little crazy (just a little)

**Percy Jackson Son of Hearth and Sea: The Lightning Thief**

 **A/N Hello again! Brand new chapter! I am so happy with the response I got from last chapter, I honestly thought that everybody would hate it XD. I don't really have anything to say, but I hope you all enjoy this chapter, leave a Review and tell me what you think of it, and if you really like it, Follow and Favorite.**

 **Disclaimer-**

 **Me: Hello everyone, guess what? I now own PJO.**

 **Rick: Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha *smacks table* hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. No.**

 **Me: Oh, well, I'm sure Disney would-**

 **Disney: You wish.**

 **Me: Well DreamWorks-**

 **DreamWorks: Get real kid!**

 **Me: … Pixar?**

 **Pixar: *Glares***

 **Me: Okay then. *Sobs***

* * *

 **Chapter 23:**

Once I had finished my conversation with a supposed fictional animated character, I swam back to my friends who were still waiting for me on the beach.

As soon as they saw me, they ran towards me. "What happened?" Annabeth asked once they were standing in front of me.

Those two simple words rang inside my head. Two simple words that made me recall everything that had happened during my underwater adventure. The three sharks, Bruce, Anchor and Chum. Characters from the movie Finding Nemo that are actually real.

Ariel and Sebastian, two more characters from an animated movie that are real, and the mention of Oscar the fish who brought sharks and fish together. There was only one movie that I knew of that fit that description. Shark Tale.

And what made it all even more ridiculous is that we were right by the place where some of the greatest actors and film creators lived.

I remembered the three pearls that Ariel had given me that could get us out from Hades' realm somehow. The fact that no one had actually managed to leave the Underworld besides some of the greatest demigods of all time, wasn't actually helping at all with the knowledge that we only had until tomorrow when the summer solstice deadline ended.

I started to chuckle. Annabeth and Grover looked at me confused. Ever so slowly, my chuckling started getting louder and louder.

"Percy? Are you okay?" Grover asked me concerned.

I burst into hysterical laughter. I could vaguely hear Grover and Annabeth asking me different questions and calling my name, but I was too busy laughing that I didn't even notice. I looked at my friends still laughing and said, "Th-there … there were … sh-sh-sharks! A-and th-then-" I went into another bout of laughter. "A mermaid! *Insert crazy laughter here* She gave me pearls!"

The whole time I 'spoke' my friends just stared at me like I was crazy. Actually, there was without a doubt that I looked like a maniac. I took a huge breath of air, grabbed Grover, by the shoulders with a crazy grin on my face and yelled, "We're going to DIE!" And then I started laughing even harder.

 **10 Minutes Later:**

I hung my head down in shame while holding my still stinging cheeks. Annabeth had given me a very harsh scolding – and slapping - for going completely mental on my friends, something I felt very bad for now. I had apologized profusely. When they asked me, what had happened down there that made me go crazy, I opted for not mentioning what it was I had actually seen or else they would have actually thought I was crazy.

Now, we were sitting in the back of a bus headed to West Hollywood. I had shown the bus driver the address I had gotten from Aunty Em's Garden Emporium for DOA Recording Studios, but he said he had never heard of the place.

We travelled for a few miles and eventually got off at stop. We wandered for more miles on foot, looking for DOA. Nobody seemed to know where it was. It didn't appear in the phone book.

Frustration started building inside of me, as the hours started passing by. I wasn't sure how we were ever going to find the entrance to the Underworld in time for the summer solstice deadline.

Soon, it got dark, and hungry-looking characters started coming out in the streets to play. We walked past gangbangers, bums, and street hawkers, who looked at us like they were trying to figure out if we were worth mugging or not. I glared at them with a look that said, 'Try it.'

As we walked past the entrance to an alley way, a voice from the darkness said, "Hey, you."

Like an idiot, I stopped.

In seconds, we were surrounded by a gang of kids – six of them in total – white kids with expensive clothes and mean faces. Like the kids at Yancy Academy: rich brats playing at being bad boys.

I didn't move. I looked at all of them menacingly and said in a dangerously calm voice, "Get out of my way."

The kid, who I assumed was the leader laughed out loud and pulled out a switchblade. "Oh yeah," he taunted, "Or what?"

"Come closer and find out."

He grinned maliciously and said, "Sure, and once were done with you," he looked at Annabeth and licked his lips, "We'll have the girl to ourselves." I felt fury run through my veins at his implication.

He approached me, the switchblade held in front of him and just as he got within reach, I lashed out and twisted his wrist. He yelled in pain, and in quick succession, I grabbed the blade out of his hand, spun into his guard and stabbed into his leg. The rich brat screamed again. He fell down to a knee and I spun back around and delivered a hard punch straight to his face, and to my surprise, he went flying back some twenty feet away.

Nobody moved, and using their surprise to my advantage, I grabbed my friends and ran off in the opposite direction of rich brat No. Unconscious.

The other rich brats came out of their stupor. "Get 'em!" One of them yelled.

We turned on a sharp corner. "There!" Annabeth shouted. Only one store seemed to be open, it's windows with glaring neon. The sign above said something like CRSTUY'S WATRE BDE APLACE.

"Crusty's Water Bed Palace?" Grover translated.

The place sounded kind of familiar, but I had other things to worry about. We burst through the doors, ran behind a water bed and ducked. A split second later, the rich brats ran past outside.

"I think we lost them," Grover panted.

A voice behind us boomed, "Lost who?"

We all jumped.

Standing behind us was a guy who looked like a raptor in a leisure suit. He was at least seven feet tall, with absolutely no hair. He had grey leathery skin, thick lidded eyes, and a cold, reptilian smile. He moved toward us slowly, but I got the feeling he could move fast if he wanted to.

His suit might've come from the Lotus Casino. It belonged back in the seventies, big-time. The shirt was silk paisley, unbuttoned halfway down his hairless chest. The lapels on his velvet jacket were as wide as landing strips. The silver chains around his neck – I couldn't even count them.

"I'm Crusty," he said with a tartar-yellow smile. I wasn't sure what possessed me to do it, maybe it was the adrenaline that was still pumping through me, maybe it was the frustration, maybe it was a bit of both, but I uncapped Riptide and threw it at the giant man's chest. The sword sunk into his chest, his mouth was open with a silent scream of agony and his eyes were staring at the sword embedded in his chest, wide with disbelief.

He slowly fell to his knees and then, crumbled into golden dust.

Grover and Annabeth stared at the pile of dust in utter disbelief.

Annabeth turned to me, I would have laughed at her bewildered expression, except I was much too frustrated to do so. She opened and closed her mouth repeatedly, reminding me of a goldfish. "Percy …" She finally managed to say. "What … How?" She gestured wildly with her hands to my sword that was still buried in the pile of dust.

I shrugged dismissively. "I guess my brain was on overdrive. That was actually Procrustes," I told her.

"The Stretcher?"

I nodded my head while pulling my sword out of the dust.

"But … How'd you figure it all out so fast?" She asked.

"Apparently the Hunters had been here before, for an order of water beds. I learned that when I learned about him," I told her, pointing my now retrieved sword at his remains. "And I mean, come on. That guy practically screamed monster."

"Whatever," she said rolling her eyes. Suddenly, her demeanor changed and she started looking around the store worriedly. "Where's Grover?" She asked. Instantly I started looking around for our hoofed friend.

"O-o-ov-ver-r-r h-her-re!" He yelled, his voice coming out in a strange broken way. We ran over to the direction of his voice, to find him lying down on one of the water beds. And by the looks of it, it was some kind of massage bed. The sale sign indicated it was a million-hand massage bed. Annabeth and I shared a look and rolled our eyes at his ridiculousness.

"Come on, goat boy," Annabeth said. "Let's see if we can find something here."

Grover groaned mournfully, but got up nevertheless, albeit very reluctantly.

"What do you expect to find?" I asked.

She shrugged. "You said that the Hunters came for an order, maybe they get shipped to the gods or something. So, maybe there could be orders for Hades."

While her reasoning sounded pretty reasonable, I couldn't help but wonder something. "Why would Hades need a water bed?"

She gave another shrug and puffed indifferently, "I don't know. Maybe even the Lord of the Dead needs to be comfortable."

I decided to just leave it at that. Pretty soon we found the address to the Underworld on a bulletin board behind Crusty's sales desk. There was an advertisement for Hermes Delivery Service and another for the All-New Compendium of L.A. Area Monsters – "The only Monstrous Yellow Pages you'll ever need!" _Yeah that stuff was pretty irrelevant. Stupid ADHD._ Under that, a bright orange flier for DOA Recording Studios, offering commission for heroes' souls. "We are always looking for new talent!" DOA's address slip was right underneath with a map. Only a block from where we were.

I felt a flush of relief come over me. Finally, we had found it. In my victory, I raided Crusty's cashier machine. I almost felt bad for killing Crusty, because now the Hunters wouldn't get any more water bed orders from this place, but I felt like they kind of deserved it for everything they put me through.

We finally left the store, being wary of the rich brats who we encountered not too long ago and followed the map to DOA.

As we walked, we came up with various plans of how we were going to get in and things like that. Honestly, the plans were simple and completely ridiculous, but we really had no other options.

We arrived at Valencia Boulevard, where DOA was located. The buildings name lit up in gold etched on black marble. Underneath, stenciled on glass doors: NO SOLICITORS. NO LOITERING. NO LIVING.

It was almost midnight, but the lobby was brightly lit and full of people. Behind the security desk sat a tough-looking guy with sunglasses and an earpiece.

I took a moment to take what was happening into consideration. We were here … We were finally here. Of course, there were more problems to face once we got down there, but we had a plan … A not very well thought out plan, but it was better than nothing.

I grabbed the pearls that were in my pocket. Ariel had said that they would help me somehow and I could only hope she was right.

We walked into the DOA lobby. Music played softly on hidden speakers. The carpet and walls were steel grey. Pencil cactuses grew in the corners like skeleton hands. The furniture was black leather, and every seat was taken. There were people sitting on couches, people standing up, people staring out the windows or waiting for the elevator. Nobody moved, or talked, or did much of anything. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see them all just fine, but if I focused on one of them in particular, they started looking … transparent. I could see right through their bodies.

I couldn't help myself from checking the lobby to see if I could find a certain someone that might be here. I deliberately walked as slow as I could, trying to see if I could spot her anywhere. I thought I might had seen her a few times, but it turned out not to be. In the middle of the lobby, I saw something that made me freeze in my tracks, or rather, someone.

Sitting on the couch in all his fat walrus glory, was Smelly Gabe.

* * *

 **A/N Aaaand, CUT! That's a wrap folks! I know this chapter was kind of short and didn't really have much in it, but I just wanted to leave you guys on a cliffhanger XD. Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, leave a Review and tell me what you think of this story, (I want to hear some of your guys thoughts about my story and any theories of what you think might happen) and if you really liked it, Follow and Favorite.**

 **Goodbye me Greek geeks. Tide Out.**


	24. The Underworld isn't that bad

**Percy Jackson Son of Hearth and Sea: The Lightning Thief**

 **A/N Hello again my fellow fanfic fanatics! I'm back with another chapter. I'm am so so sorry for taking forever with this chapter it was actually supposed to come up on Percy's birthday, but shit happened and I've updated now. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this chapter, leave a Review and tell me what you think, and if you really like it Follow and Favorite.**

 **Reviews:**

 **MagenticArcanine (Guest): Oh, thank you! For not stealing my Oreo's and for liking the chapter.**

 **Popcornrocks13: It was very clever, wasn't it? And as you can tell by Ch 23, it did give him a mind fuck.**

 **Nitewolf423: Thank You! I know I am!**

 **2016jsaprinceton:** _ **This**_ **fanfic is neither. Maybe if you weren't stuck in last year you would know that XD**

 **ShinichiKudo7: Did … Did you just … make a pun? *Orders nuclear strike on your home***

 **Swimybo: Someone must find this person and destroy him/her! He has never seen Finding Nemo** _ **or**_ **the Little Mermaid! And Ch 23 was in no way related to the Olympics. Actually … now that I think about it, it relates a little bit. You're lucky I don't do to you what I did to the last guy.**

 **: It just kind of happened XD**

 **Travis rosen: I don't need your approval! But the compliment is welcome**

 **Guest: ME TOO!**

 **Guest: I know, I was hoping I could add a joke about it in, but I couldn't find a way to without making it cringy.**

 **Cassie daughter of the Moon: Yes, he does. And just for that, expect another cliffhanger! XD**

 **Cookieeather: Well you must obviously get surprised easily if I surprised you XD And I can for the next update. (Proofread next time)**

 **Guest: Patience, you must have.**

 **Caroline K: Well I love cliffhangers! And I'm glad you like it so much!**

 **PuddlePirATEpro: As much as I would love to do that, Gabe is still a mortal, and a dead mortal at that, so celestial bronze won't be able to kill him, because he's a ghost, like the rest of the dead people in there.**

 **Guest: Shhhh. It's okay now. I just did.**

 **LightningSlayer: I JUST DID!**

 **StyxxsOmega: I'm glad it did. And for the last time, I just did.**

 **Disclaimer: Guys look. I am Rick Riordan, so therefore – (Artemis appears out of nowhere with a bow and … how many arrows are there?!) I do not own PJO.**

* * *

 **Chapter 24:**

I was frozen on the spot. I couldn't believe it. So many emotions were going through me, fear, anger, confusion. The man, no, the monster that had ruined probably any chance of me having a normal life. I wasn't sure whether I wanted to run him through with Riptide (not that it would have done anything to a dead mortal man) or run from this building. Neither of those options would do me any good.

Grover must have sensed my distress (again) because he gave me a concerned look. I ignored him though and continued to just stare at him. He wasn't doing anything besides sitting there waiting for entrance to the Underworld, and that bought me a huge sense of injustice. It was about time I gave my mother justice.

With those thoughts, I strode over to the security's guard desk. It was raised on a podium so we had to look up at him. He was tall and elegant, with chocolate-colored skin and bleached-blonde hair shaved military style. He wore tortoiseshells shades and a silk Italian suit that matched his hair. A black rose was pinned to his lapel under a silver name tag.

I couldn't read what it said, but considering where we were, it wasn't hard to guess who he was. He wasn't paying us any attention and was instead reading a magazine. I cleared my throat and said, "Passage to the Underworld, please."

Charon (the security guard) looked up from his magazine and looked down on us. I couldn't see anything behind his glasses, but he seemed pretty surprised. "Well, ain't that refreshing," he said. He had a strange accent – British maybe.

"What?" I asked dumbly.

Charon nodded his head and said, "Yeah, straight-forward and honest, no screaming, 'Please Mr. Charon there must be a mistake' or 'You can't let me die, it's not fair.'" He looked us over. "So, how did you die?"

"Car crash," I answered immediately.

Charon looked over us suspiciously. "Car crash, you say?"

We all nodded.

"Where are your parents?"

I looked to Annabeth for help.

"Don't know," she answered with a shrug. "They weren't the ones driving. We took a cab."

Charon stared at us for a little longer, probably wondering if we were actually telling the truth.

"I don't suppose you have coins for passage," I almost sighed in relief. "Normally, with adults, you see, I could charge your American Express, or add the ferry price to your last cable bill. But with children … alas, you never die prepared. Suppose you'll have to take a seat for a few centuries."

"Oh, but we have coins." I set three golden drachmas onto the counter, part of the stash I'd found in Crusty's office desk.

"Well, now …" Charon moistened his lips. "Real drachmas. Real golden drachmas. I haven't seen these in forever." His fingers hovered greedily over the coins.

We were so close.

Then Charon looked at me. That cold stare behind his glasses seemed to bore a hole through my chest.

"Hear, now ... Where'd you happen to come across coins like these?" He questioned, a deadly edge to his voice.

I drew up a blank. I glanced at my friends out of the corner of my eyes, but they seemed just as taken aback by the question. Although, Annabeth was doing pretty well and not showing it.

"Uhhh, we found them?" _Real smooth Percy._

Grover bleated mournfully, like I had just signed our deaths. Honestly, he's not that far from the truth.

The dead people, as if sensing Charon's mood, started growing anxious. People were pacing the room, checking their watches and lighting cigarettes.

Charon leaned forward and inhaled deeply. His expression went colder, and an ugly sneer visible on his tanned face. "You ain't dead," he said, his voice now a deep growling sound, the people were now smashing and banging at the elevator doors trying to get in. "You're goslings!"

All of a sudden, it went quiet. Everyone stopped what they were doing and gave Charon an incredulous look. Not a sound was being made inside the lobby. There was only the gloomy and somber song that was still playing over the loudspeaker.

Charon shifted in his chair looking very uncomfortable. "What?!" He snapped.

I blinked a few times trying to comprehend if that was actually what he said. "Did you just call us goslings?"

"No I didn't!" He denied, "I said godlings!"

"No! You called us goslings!"

"I called you godlings!"

"Goslings!"

"Godlings!"

"Goslings!"

"Godlings!"

"Goslings!"

"Godlings!"

"Godlings!"

"Goslings!"

"Ha! Told you!"

Realization dawned on his face for a brief second then it went back to cold again. "Dammit! I meant goslings! NO! Holdings! Godlings! F*ing autocorrect! I said godlings!"

"No you didn't."

"It doesn't matter!" He snapped. "What does matter, is that you ain't getting into the Underworld."

"But we're dead!" I argued uselessly. Next to me, I could almost feel Annabeth's gaze piercing into the side of my head.

"Oh yeah?" Charon said mockingly, "If you're dead, then how is he here?" He pointed at Grover.

I flicked my gaze to Grover for a second to see that he had gone pale and was even lightly sweating. He looked over to me and gave me a look, but I couldn't tell if it was saying _HELP ME,_ or _SHUT UP!_

"Umm, because he died."

He scoffed loudly. "Oh please, he's a satyr. Satyr's don't have souls." Yeah, Grover was definitely telling me to shut up.

"Hey!" I protested, putting my arms protectively around Grover. "That's just uncalled for."

"Um, Percy," Grover murmured, "He's right, I literally don't have a soul." I unwrapped my arms.

"I knew that," I murmured.

Charon let out a loud frustrated growl. "This is ridiculous! Look mate, I'll just take these shiny coins here and pretend I never saw you." He reached out to grab the coins, but thinking quickly I snatched them off the counter.

I wagged my finger at him. "Ah-ah-ah! No service, no tip!"

Charon clenched his jaw and growled viciously at us. "I could just kill you right now and send you to Hades the easier way."

"No thanks," I said feeling confident. "We have a quest we need to complete. Stake of the world is at hand. Plus, you don't scare me, I've met little girls who are way more scarier than you."

"Why you little-"

"How about an offer?" I suggested. "If you let us through, I'll give you double the normal price for entry."

Charon let out a mocking laugh. "That'd be four drachmas for each of you. And that," he pointed to the coins in my hand, "Does not look like enough." He leaned back in his chair grinning. "And besides, I'm not someone who can just be bough-" he let out a strangled noise.

I had just pulled out the bag of drachmas I took from Crusty's, and bounced the bag in my hand, the coins making a loud jingling noise. Annabeth must have caught on to what I was doing because she crossed her arms and smirked. "You were saying?"

"Well, I guess I could let it go. Just this once."

"On one condition," I added.

Charon growled frustrated. "What?"

I pointed across the room to the walrus on the couch. "You have to let him through too."

Charon looked over to where I was pointing and as soon as his gaze landed on him he looked bewildered. "That guy?"

I nodded.

"Why?"

"Personal reasons."

Charon leaned back in his chair and scratched his chin. "I don't know... I mean the boat is almost full-"

"I'll pay you extra." I interrupted.

"Done!" Charon agreed. He stood up from his chair and called out to the other side of the room. "Oi! You! Mr. Potato Head! Yeah! This kid just payed for your entrance fee! So move your fat ass to the elevator doors!" Gabe got up from his seat and trudged his way to the elevator doors. "Just before we go," Charon said to us now. "I'm gonna need payment."

Grumbling a little bit I opened the bag and gave him the sixteen drachmas from us and begrudgingly gave him two more to pay for the walrus.

"Brilliant," Charon said after he finished counting the coins, extremely slowly, three times. "This way." He directed us to the elevator doors and shoved some people out of the way, urging them to move. We pushed through the spirits who were trying to grab and cling on our clothes like wind, their voices whispering things I couldn't make out.

He escorted us into the elevator which was already crammed with the spirits of the dead, each one holding a green boarding pass. It didn't help that Gabe was in here either. Charon grabbed two spirits who were trying to get on with us and pushed them back into the lobby. "Now, no one get any ideas while I'm gone," He announced to the waiting room. "And if anyone changes the dial on my easy listening-station, they'll be staying for an extra thousand years. Got that?"

He then shut the elevator doors. He pushed a keycard into a slot in the elevator panel and we started to descend.

Charon looked at Gabe and said, "You my fat friend, are one lucky guy. Only staying eight years in that place."

"Eight years?" I said incredulously.

"Pfft, that's nothing," Charon said. "Some of these chumps have actually been here for thousands of years."

While that was surprising, that wasn't why I was so surprised now. "Yeah, but ... He's been here for eight years?"

Charon scrunched his nose in what looked like confusion. "Well, just a little bit over eight years. He got here at the start of June."

June. That was the month he had killed my mother. Eight years ago. But that didn't make sense. My mum had died in the middle of June. How was it possible that he came here at the start of June?

"How do you remember that?" Annabeth asked him.

"I remember when everyone dies. It's pretty annoying at times. But this one came just after Hades had gone out for some personal errand," Charon told us. The whole time we talked, Gabe had kept looking over at us and scowling. Mainly at me.

I got a sudden dizzy feeling. We weren't going down anymore, but forward. The air turned misty. Spirits around me started changing shape. Their modern clothes flickered, turning into gray hooded robes. The floor of the elevator began swaying.

I blinked hard. When I opened my eyes, Charon's creamy Italian suit had been replaced. His tortoise shell glasses were gone. Where his eyes should've been were empty sockets - Like Ares' eyes, except Charon's were totally dark, full of night and death and despair. I jumped back in surprise and almost fell off the side. Thankfully, Annabeth managed to catch me.

"What's the matter?" He mocked. "Scared?"

"Just short term scary."

It looked like he was grinning, but that wasn't it. The flesh of his face was becoming transparent, letting me straight through his skull. "Whatever," he mumbled. "Just try not to fall into that." He pointed with his chin to the side of the boat. It was only then I realized that we weren't in an elevator anymore. Instead, we were on a large wooden boat. And over the side was dark, oily river, swirling with bones, dead fish, and other, stranger things - plastic dolls, crushed car nations, soggy diplomas with gilt edges.

"The River Styx," Annabeth murmured. "It's so..."

"Polluted," Charon said. "For thousands of years, you humans have been throwing in everything as you came across - hopes, dreams, wishes that never came true. Irresponsible waste management, if you ask me."

"Trust me," I said. "It's no better up there."

Mist curled off the filthy water. Above us, almost lost in the gloom, was a ceiling of stalactites. Ahead, the far shore glimmered with greenish light, the color of poison.

"Why shouldn't we fall in?" Grover asked. It sounded like a stupid question, but i couldn't blame him for asking. Poor guy must have been scared out of his mind.

"Well, unless you want to find out what excruciating pain and suffering feels like, and never exist again, by all means, go ahead and have a swim," Charon said sarcastically.

Grover gulped and moved closer to the middle of the boat. "Good point."

I looked back over to Gabe again. It would be so easy to just push him overboard and be done with him. But no, he deserved worse than that. He deserved to be punished for eternity.

Suddenly, someone gripped my hand. It was Annabeth. She looked calm and collected, but I could see in her eyes that she was terrified. I remembered that this was her first quest. Her first time being outside in the real world. She wasn't used to this and she needed reassurance that there was someone else with her.

The shore line of the Underworld came into view. Craggy rocks and black volcanic sand stretched inland about a hundred yards to the base of a high stone wall, which marched off in either direction as far as we could see. A sound came from somewhere nearby in the green gloom, echoing off the stones - the howl of a large animal.

"Old Three Face is hungry," Charon said. His smile turned skeletal in the greenish light. "Bad luck for you, godlings."

The bottom of our boat slid onto the black sand. The dead began to disembark. A woman holding a little girl's hand. An old man and an old woman hobbling along arm in arm. A boy no older than I was, shuffling silently along in his gray robe. And of course there was Smelly Gabe, trudging away.

Charon said, "I'd wish you luck mate, but there isn't any down here. Oh, and one other thing since you were so generous with my tip."

"Mhm," I grunted annoyedly.

"If it's not too much trouble. Could you, maybe mention a pay raise to Hades?" He asked.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Maybe."

He stared at me for a few seconds then sighed. "Fine, that's probably the best I'd get out of you anyway." He counted the gold coins we gave him again and put them into his pouch. He took up his pole and pushed himself away from the shore. He warbled something that sounded like a Barry Manilow song as he ferried the empty barge back across the river.

We followed the spirits up a well worn path.

I wasn't sure what I was expecting - Pearly Gates, or a big black portcullis, or something. But the entrance to the Underworld was like a cross between airport security and Jersey Turnpike.

There were three separate entrances under one huge black archway that said YOU ARE NOW ENTERING EREBUS. Each entrance had a pass-through metal detector with security cameras mounted on top. Beyond this were tollbooths manned by black-robed ghouls like Charon.

The howling of the hungry animal was really loud now, but I couldn't see where it was coming from. The three-headed dog, Cerberus, who was supposed to guard Hades' door, was nowhere to be seen.

The dead queued up in the three lines, two marked ATTENDANT ON DUTY, and one marked EZ DEATH. The EZ DEATH line was moving right along. The other two were crawling.

"What do you figure?" I asked Annabeth.

"The fast line must go straight to the Asphodel Fields," she said. "No contest. They don't want to risk judgement from the court, because it might go against them."

"Right, so the other two must go to judgement then," I said.

"Right," Annabeth agreed.

"Hey Percy," Grover said tapping my shoulder. "Look." He pointed to the front of one of the lines where some black-robed ghouls had just pulled aside one of the spirits. The face of the dead man looked vaguely familiar.

"He's the preacher who made the news, remember?"

"Oh, yeah." I did remember now. We'd seen him on TV a couple of times at the Yancy Academy dorm. He was this annoying televangelist from upstate New York who'd raised millions of dollars for orphanages and then got caught spending the money on stuff for his mansion, like gold-plated toilet seats, and indoor putt-putt golf course.

He died in a police chase when his "Lamborghini for the Lord" went off a cliff.

I said, "What're they doing to him?"

"Special punishment from Hades," Grover guessed. "The really bad people get his personal attention as soon as they arrive. The Fur- The Kindly Ones will set up an eternal torture for him."

"Oh, yeah. It's all coming back to me now," I said. The thought of the Furies made me shudder. I realized I was in their home territory now. Old Mrs. Dodds would be licking her lips in anticipation. I was also hoping that the ghouls would take Gabe away too. "But if he's a preacher, and he believes in a different hell..."

Grover shrugged. "Who says he's seeing this place the way we're seeing it? Humans see what they want to see. You're very stubborn- er, persistent that way."

We got closer to the gates. The howling was so loud now it shook the ground at my feet, but I still couldn't figure out where it was coming from.

Then, about fifty feet in front of us, the green mist shimmered. Standing just where the path split into three lanes was an enormous shadowy monster.

I hadn't seen it because it was half transparent, like the dead. Until it moved, it blended with whatever was behind it. I followed it's legs, up to it's body, to it's neck, and finally, thirty feet up was it's heads. It's eyes were the only thing that looked solid. And a single pair was staring straight at me.

My jaw hung open. All I could think to say was, "He's a Rottweiler."

I wasn't sure what I'd imagine Cerberus as. Maybe something that looked more like a hellish beast. But he was obviously a purebred Rottweiler, except he was the twice the size of a woolly mammoth, mostly invisible, and had three heads.

The dead walked right up to him. No fear at all. The ATTENDANT ON DUTY lines parted on either side of him. The EZ DEATH spirits walked right between his front paws and under his belly, which they could do without even crouching.

"I'm starting to see him better," I muttered. "Why is that?"

"I think ... " Annabeth moistened her lips. "I'm afraid it's because we're getting closer to being dead."

The dog's middle head craned towards us. It sniffed the air and growled.

"It can smell the living," I said.

"But that's okay," Grover said trembling next to me. "Because we have a plan."

"Right," Annabeth said. I'd never heard her voice so small. "A plan. Let's try to stick to the plan this time." She gave me a pointed look.

We moved toward him.

The middle head snarled at us, then barked so loudly my eyeballs rattled.

"Can you understand it?" I asked Grover.

"Oh, yeah," he said. "I can understand it."

"What's it saying?"

"I don't think humans have a four-letter word that translates exactly."

I took the big stick out of my backpack - a bedpost I'd broken off Crusty's Safari Deluxe floor model. I held it up, and tried to channel happy dog thoughts to Cerberus - Alpo commercials, cute little pup pies, fire hydrants. I tried to smile, like I wasn't about to die. There was no way in Hades we were fighting our way out of this one.

"Hey, Big Fella," I called up. "I bet they don't play with you much."

" _GRRROOOOWWWLLL!"_

"Good boy," I said weakly.

I waved the stick. The dog's middle head followed the movements. The other two heads trained their eyes on me, completely ignoring the spirits. I had it's undivided attention. I wasn't sure that was a good thing.

"Fetch!" I threw the stick into the gloom off the the side. A good solid throw.

I heard it go _ker-sploosh_ in the River Styx.

Cerberus glared at me unimpressed. His eyes were baleful, and cold.

So much for the plan.

Cerberus was making a new kind of growl, deeper down in his three throats.

"Um," Grover said. "Percy?"

"Yeah?"

"I just thought you'd want to know."

"Yeah?"

"Cerberus? He's saying we have ten seconds to pray to the god of our choice. After that ... well ... he's hungry."

"Wait!" Annabeth said. She started rifling through her pack.

 _Uh oh,_ I thought.

"Five seconds!" Grover squeaked. "Do we run now?"

From her bag, she pulled out a red rubber ball the size of a grapefruit. It was labeled WATERLAND, DENVER, CO.

Before I could stop her, she raised the ball marched straight up to Cerberus. She shouted, "See the ball? Want the ball, Cerberus? Sit!"

Cerberus looked as stunned as we were. All three of his heads cocked sideways. Six nostrils dilated.

"Sit!" Annabeth called again.

At any moment I was sure she would become the world's biggest Milkbone dog biscuit. But instead, Cerberus licked his three sets of his lips, shifted on his haunches, and sat, immediately crushing a dozen spirits who'd been passing underneath him in the EZ DEATH line. The spirits made muffled hisses as they dissipated, like the air let out of tires.

Annabeth said, "Good boy!"

She threw Cerberus the ball. He caught it in his middle mouth. It was barely big enough for him to chew, and the other heads started snapping at the middle, trying to get the new toy.

"Drop it," Annabeth ordered.

Cerberus's heads stopped fighting and looked at her. The ball was wedged between two of his teeth like a tiny piece of gum. He made a loud, scary whimper, then dropped the ball, now slimy, and almost bitten in half, at Annabeth's feet.

"Good boy." She picked up the ball, ignoring the spit all over it. She turned toward us. "EZ DEATH line. It's faster."

I said, "But-"

"Now!" She ordered, in the same tone she was using on the dog.

Grover and I inched forward warily.

Cerberus started to growl.

Stay!" Annabeth ordered. "If you want the ball, stay!"

Cerberus whimpered, but he stayed where he was.

"What about you?" I asked Annabeth as we passed her.

"I know what I'm doing, Percy," she muttered. "At least, I'm pretty sure ..."

Just as we were about to pass through his legs I realized something. Sure, he looked like a big scary monster with three heads, as tall as a house and could eat you in a single bite. But underneath all that he was just a dog. No different from the wolves in the Hunt. Yeah, the Hunt has wolves. The point is, they all had one thing in common. They all loved belly rubs.

"Percy," Grover hissed quietly next to me. "What are you waiting for?"

Swallowing thickly, I continued approaching Cerberus, one hand outstretched. It's left head directed it's attention back to me.

"Hey buddy," I said. Cerberus narrowed his eyes at me, but didn't do anything to stop me, so I kept approaching. The closer I got, the clearer I could see him, right until I could see all the muscle and sinew reminding me just how close to death I was.

Tentatively, I touched his chest.

"Percy," Annabeth hissed. "What are you doing?"

"Don't worry," I said. "I'm pretty sure I know what I'm doing." I was also pretty sure I was about to die.

I slowly started stroking his fur. "Who's a good boy? Huh?" I cooed. "Who's a good boy?"

Cerberus started to growl. I thought he was about to have a snack out of me, but the growl sounded different to his other one. I looked behind him to see his tail wagging.

Feeling more confident I petted him a little harder and gave him more praise. His tail started wagging faster. "Who's a good guard dog? You're a good guard dog."

I used both my hands and scratched his belly. Cerberus's tongues flopped out of his mouth and he started panting. I scratched around his enormous torso to his side. I looked at my friends to see them completely stunned.

I grinned at them. "Are you just going to stand there? Or do you want to pet a dog?"

Annabeth was the first to come out of her shock. Warily she approached him, and carefully started petting him. Once she deemed it safe enough, she put the ball back in her backpack and started petting him with even more enthusiasm. She looked like a little kid playing with her puppy.

Grover, who was still just looking at us incredulously, shrugged and joined us with petting the massive dog.

Cerberus was panting and happily wagging his tail at all the praise he was getting. Soon, he rolled over onto his back so we could rub his belly easier. Annabeth was on her tippy toes grinning and giggling as she petted him.

"Hey Cerberus!" She called to him. All three of his heads looked at her. "Can you give us a lift Hades' palace?"

All three heads barked simultaneously. That did not help my hearing.

Annabeth and I looked at Grover who was grinning widely.

"What'd he say?" I asked.

Grover just looked at me still grinning.

* * *

 **A/N OK! OK! I'M SORRY! I know this chapter is suuuuuper late, but I finally got it done! That's the only thing I'm sorry for. I am in no way sorry about the cliff hanger XD But you'll be happy to know, that I am finally back in the swing of things. And depending on when you're reading this story. I have a very big surprise for you guys. What that surprise is, you'll just have to wait and find out. Anyways, I really hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, leave a Review and tell me what you think of it, don't be shy, and if you guys really enjoyed it, Follow and Favorite.**

 **Goodbye my Greek geeks. Tide out**


	25. Never mind The Underworld is that bad

**Percy Jackson Son of Hearth and Sea: The Lightning Thief**

 **A/N Ta-da! Once again, I have a new chapter for you! And this time, I didn't take forever! So, as some of you might already know, I have published a new story called, "The Twin's Tales". It's something I had been working on for a while and it's one of the reasons I had been inactive for so long. I really hope you guys go and check it out, I'm sure you guys will love it. I won't be updating it as much as this story mainly because it's still a work in progress and I'm still trying to see what direction the story will take.**

 **And a question everyone has been asking even though I've answered it multiple times already. Will there be a pairing? Yes there will be, just not in this story. Percy's twelve. Twelve year old's should not be dating. Happy? No? You want to know what the pairing will be? LOL I'm not telling you that. Ruins the susrprise XD**

 **One last thing. Last chapter, with the gosling and godling argument between Percy and Charon. My autocorrect really did change godling to gosling, so I decided to stick with it XD**

 **Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, leave a Review and tell me what you think, and if you really like it, Follow and Favorite.**

 **Disclaimer: This is the last time I'm saying this, I do not own anything, all rights go to Rick Riordan.**

* * *

 **Chapter 25:**

"WHOOOOO!" Annabeth hollered happily.

We were all sitting on top of each of Cerberus's head as he carried us across the Underworld through the Fields of Asphodel – a huge field-like area with trillions of spirits doing nothing but wondering around – gripping tightly onto his ears so we wouldn't fall off. I was on top of the middle head with Grover to my left and Annabeth to my right. Cerberus was just going at a slow jog, but we were still going at least twenty miles an hour.

I doubt anyone had ever ridden by giant three-headed-dog before, but it was by far, the coolest thing ever. Annabeth seemed to be enjoying it the most.

"Hey, Annabeth!" I called, hoping she'd hear me over the wind and Cerberus's loud stomping.

Thankfully, she did. "Yeah?"

"Where'd you learn to do that?"

"Do what?" She asked.

"You know," I shifted on top of Cerberus's head for a more comfortable position. "Get Cerberus to sit."

"Oh, that," she got a strange look on her face. "Obedience school. When I was young I had a Dobermann as a pet. His name was Rufus. He … he died when he was trying to protect me from a monster." She faced away from me, but I managed to see a tear running down her cheek. She sniffled a little about.

"You don't think Hades would mind that we stole his guard dog, do you?" Grover said.

I said, "I don't think the gates are in need of serious guarding right now." Just a few seconds later, I sneezed.

"Bless you," Grover said.

"Thanks. I think I need it. It feels like someone just cursed at me." I said.

Annabeth gave me a confused look. "That's … weird, but okay."

I looked down below us at the Asphodel Fields. It was hard to comprehend just how many spirits there were. They looked like giant ants, with the way they were moving. Among them, something caught my eye. I only saw it for a few seconds, but I still saw it, or, not it, per se. More like, I saw her. Amongst the greyish spirits, one stood out amongst them.

A girl, who just barely looked my age. Unlike the other, she was in color. Dark chocolate skin, brown curly hair, and bright golden eyes.

I lost sight of her quickly amongst the green misty air, and the other spirits.

"Percy," Annabeth said. "Look."

I looked in the direction she was pointing. Not too far away, there was a black-tented pavilion with a banner that read:

 _JUDGEMENTS FOR ELYSIUM AND ETERNAL DAMNATION_

 _Welcome, Newly Deceased!_

Out of the back of the tents came two small lines.

The left line had spirits that were flanked by security ghouls. They were marched down a rocky path toward the Fields of Punishment, which glowed and smoked in the distance, a vast, cracked wasteland with rivers of lava and minefields, and barbed wire that separated the different torture areas. Not barbed wire fences. Barbed wired. I could even see a few people who were caught in it.

That was not all I saw though. I could see people being chased by hellhounds, burned at the stake, forced to run naked through cactus patches or listen to music. There was even one with a fat bearded man screaming as he was kept in a guillotine. The blade fell beheading him, but still he continued screaming, and his body continued flailing around. The ghouls raised the guillotine and then cauterized his head back on, then dropped the guillotine again.

And there were even more tortures – some, I can't and don't want to describe.

I looked away and looked at the line coming from the right of the pavilion, the place where Annabeth was pointing to. The sight was much more pleasant. The line led to a small valley surrounded by walls – a gated community, which seemed to be the only happy part of the Underworld. Beyond the security gate were neighborhoods of beautiful houses from every time period in history, Roman villas and medieval castles and Victorian mansions. Silver and gold flowers bloomed on the lawns. The grass rippled in rainbow colors. I could almost hear laughter and smell barbecue cooking.

Elysium.

In the middle of that valley was a glittering blue lake, with three small islands like a vacation resort in the Bahamas. The Isles of the Blest, for people who had chosen to be reborn three times, and three times achieved Elysium. Immediately I knew that's where I wanted to go when I died.

I couldn't help but think that maybe my mum had made it to Elysium. Maybe she had gone for rebirth to try and reach the Isles of the Blest. After the life she had, she deserved only the best.

"That's what it's all about," Annabeth said. "That's the place for heroes."

But I thought of how few people there were in Elysium, how tiny it was compared to the Fields of Asphodel or even the Fields of Punishment. So few people did good in their lives. It was depressing.

We moved past the judgement pavilion and moved deeper into the Asphodel Fields. It got darker. The colors faded from our clothes. The crowds of chattering spirits began to thin. After a few miles of riding on Cerberus's back, we began to hear familiar screeching. Looming on the horizon was a palace of glittering black obsidian. Above the parapets swirled three bat-like creatures: The Furies. I got the feeling they were waiting for us.

"It's not too late to turn back, is it?" Grover said wistfully. "I mean, we could still search the other places. Like Elysium, for instance …"

Annabeth and I shared a look and rolled our eyes at him, and then Grover yelled.

Cerberus stopped walking and we turned to see what happened. Grover had just fallen off Cerberus's head, onto the black grass below.

"Grover!" Annabeth called. "You okay?"

"Yeah! I'm goo-" Suddenly, he was pulled forwards a little bit. I looked closer and saw that his shoes had sprouted its wings and was dragging him by his feet. Before anything else could happen his shoes levitated off the ground and dragged him away.

"Grover!" Annabeth and I yelled uselessly.

"Aaagh!" Grover screamed also uselessly. " _Maia! Maia!_ HELP! _"_ His shoes didn't respond to the magic word and pulled him downhill like a bobsled.

"Cerberus! Fetch!" I yelled. Cerberus barked and chased after our runaway satyr. We were starting to gain on him, but he already had a bit of a head start and was still picking up speed.

Annabeth shouted, "Untie the shoes!"

It was a smart idea, but I guess it's not easy when you're being pulled feet first at high speed. Grover tried to sit up, but he couldn't get close to the laces.

Cerberus did his best to chase after him, but the shoes would veer him sharply to one side to avoid him. It was hard to keep sight of him as he flew through the legs of spirits. We only knew where he was because of his consistent screaming.

I was sure Grover was going to barrel through the gates of Hades's palace, but his shoes veered sharply to the right and dragged him in the opposite direction.

The slope got steeper and Grover picked up more speed.

Cerberus skidded across the ground and chased after him. A few hundred meters later Cerberus stopped abruptly which caused me and Annabeth to fly off the top of his head.

We landed painfully onto the rocky ground below. Cerberus's three heads barked loudly in the direction Grover went. It sounded like he was trying to be scary, but only ended up sounding scared himself

"Come on," I groaned. "We gotta go after Grover."

"What's wrong with Cerberus?" Annabeth asked.

"Not sure. But we'll lose Grover if we don't go after him."

We sprinted down the hill, Cerberus still barking behind us.

"Guys!" Grover yelled from somewhere below. "Help!"

The further we ran down the narrower the walls became on either side, and I'd realized we must have entered some kind of tunnel.

"Grab onto something!" I yelled to him.

"I'm trying!" Came his voice. He sounded closer now. Which meant he had probably slowed himself down somehow.

Finally, we managed to catch up to him. He was holding onto a piece of jagged rock that was protruding from the cavern wall. His feet were still trying to pull him further down.

Relief flashed on Grover's face when he saw us, but it was short lived because the piece of rock he was holding onto snapped off the wall and his feet pulled him further down the tunnel.

"Use the rock!" Annabeth shouted at him. "Dig it into the ground! It might slow you down!"

Grover followed her advice and dug the piece of rock into the ground, but it didn't seem to be making much of a difference.

Fortunately, there was no twists and turns we had to take that would make us lose sight of Grover again.

Unfortunately, the tunnel got colder and darker. The hairs on my arms bristled. It smelled evil down here. It made me think of things I didn't want to think about – blood spilled on an ancient stone altar, the foul breath of a murderer.

Then I saw what was ahead of us, and I stopped dead in my tracks.

The tunnel widened into a huge dark cavern, and in the middle, was a chasm the size of a city block.

Grover was sliding straight toward the edge.

"Come on, Percy!" Annabeth yelled, tugging at my wrist.

"But that's-"

"I know!" She shouted. "The place you described in your dream! But Grover's going to fall if we don't catch him!"

That got me moving again.

He was yelling, clawing at the ground – he must have dropped the rock somewhere behind – but the shoes kept dragging him toward the pit, and it didn't look like we were going to get to him in time.

What saved him were his hooves.

The flying sneaker were always a loose fit on him, and finally, Grover hit a big rock and the left shoe came flying off. It sped into the darkness, down into the chasm. The right shoe kept tugging him along, but not as fast. Grover was able to slow himself down by grabbing on to the big rock and using it like an anchor.

He was ten feet from the edge of the pit when we caught him and hauled him back up the slope. The other winged shoe tugged itself off, circled around us angrily and kicked our heads in protest before flying off into the chasm to join its twin.

We all collapsed, exhausted, on the obsidian gravel. My limbs felt like lead. Even my backpack felt heavier, like someone had filled it with rocks.

Grover was scratched up pretty bad. His hands were bleeding. His eyes had gone slit-pupiled, goat style, the way they did whenever he was terrified.

"I don't know how …" he panted. "I didn't …"

"Wait," I said. "Listen." I heard something – a deep whisper in the darkness.

Another few seconds, and Annabeth said, "Percy, this place-"

"Shh." I stood.

The sound was getting louder, a muttering, evil voice from far, far below us. Coming in the pit.

Grover sat up. "Wh-what's that noise?"

Annabeth heard it too now. I could see it in her eyes. "Tartarus. The entrance to Tartarus." I uncapped Anaklusmos.

The bronze sword expanded, gleaming in the darkness, and the evil voice seemed to falter, just for a moment, before resuming its chant. I could almost make out words now, ancient, ancient words, older than even Greek. As if …

"Magic," I said.

"We have to get out of here," Annabeth said. Together we dragged Grover to his hooves and started back up the tunnel. My legs wouldn't move fast enough, and my backpack was really starting to weigh me down.

The voice got louder and angrier behind us and we broke into a run.

Not a moment too soon.

A cold blast of wind pulled at our backs, as if the entire pit were inhaling. The wind pulled my feet from under me and dragged me a little bit behind Grover and Annabeth. Thinking quickly, I stabbed my sword hilt deep into the gravel under me. Effectively stopping my trip to imminent doom.

"Percy!" Annabeth called panicked.

"Keep going!" I yelled to them. They looked very reluctant, but made their way to safety. The wind started getting stronger. I held onto the hilt of my sword with both hands. My backpack was pulling me back towards the pit. I was about to shrug it off me, but I saw something to my left that stopped me.

Amongst the black gravel, I could see a patch that was a different shade to the rest of the gravel.

It looked like … scorch marks.

Images of my dream flashed through my head. The loud scream, the blue fire, the two voices. But that was just a dream, how did I manage to burn the ground?

"Percy!" Annabeth called. "Come on!"

"Hold on!" I yelled back. "I've got an idea." Just like in my dream, I concentrated as hard as I could. I let go of the sword with my right hand and closed my hand into a tight fist. I willed as much power as I could into my hand causing it shake and tremble. My arm started to feel like it was burning from the inside.

I opened my fist and just like in my dream, a ball of bright blue flames that even looked like it was sparking was hovering above my palm.

"You want to suck on something?" I muttered. "Suck on this!" I threw the ball of fire into the pit. For a few seconds, nothing happened, but then something let out a roar of what sounded like pain. The winds stopped pulling me back and I could feel the thing that was in the pit retreat a little bit. I scrambled to my feet, pulled my sword out of the ground and dashed for the exit.

I rushed past my friends and they quickly followed behind me. We ran out of the tunnel area and back into the clearing that led to the Asphodel Fields.

Cerberus was still near the top of the hill pacing and whimpering. He barked happily when he saw us. Never in my life had I been so relieved to see a monster.

We collapsed at the base of the hill, underneath a pitch-black poplar tree. Using that ball of fire had drained me of a lot of my energy. More than a normal fireball usually does.

Cerberus sat down at the top of the hill obviously waiting for us. I guess even he knew what must have been in the tunnel, because he didn't come any closer.

"What _was_ that?" Grover panted. "One of Hades' pets?"

Annabeth and I looked at each other. I could tell she was nursing an idea, probably the same one she'd gotten during the taxi ride to L.A., but she was too scared to share it.

I had an idea of my own, but I didn't really feel like saying out loud because I was sure Annabeth would react badly to the idea. I capped my sword and pit it back in my pocket. "Let's keep going," I looked at Grover. "Can you walk?"

He swallowed. "Yeah, sure. I never liked those shoes, anyway." He tried to sound brave about it, but he was trembling as badly as Annabeth and I were. Whatever was in that pit was nobody's pet. It was unspeakably old and powerful. Even Echidna didn't give me that kind of feeling.

We walked up the hill, to where Cerberus was still sitting. His tail was wagging faster the closer we got. He ducked his three heads down so we could scratch him. It was a little bit relaxing, petting a massive hell beast after almost falling to your doom. We climbed on top of his heads and told him to take us to Hades's palace.

High in the gloom, the Furies circled the parapets. The outer walls of the fortress glittered black, and the two-story-tall bronze gates, stood wide open.

Up close, I saw the that the engravings on the gates were scenes of death. Some were from modern times - an atomic bomb exploding over a city, a trench filled with gas mask-wearing soldiers, a line of African famine victims waiting with empty bowls - but all of them looked as if they'd been etched into the bronze thousands of years ago. I wondered if I was looking at prophecies that had come true.

Inside the courtyard was the strangest garden I'd ever seen. Multicolored mushrooms, poisonous shrubs and weird luminous plants grew without sunlight. Precious jewels made up for the lack of flowers, piles of rubies as big as my fist, clumps of raw diamonds. Standing here and there like frozen party statues were Medusa's garden statues, petrified children, satyrs and centaurs, all smiling grotesquely.

"Cerberus, stop," Annabeth said. Cerberus obeyed and stood just outside the palace gates.

"Why'd you tell him to stop?" Grover asked.

Annabeth seemed to ignore him and said, "Put us down Cerberus." He dipped his heads down. "Come on, guys. This is our stop."

Grover and I shared a confused look, but got off Cerberus. I knew Annabeth well enough to know that she had some type of reason for getting off a giant three-headed dog that could have been great backup in case we got into a fight.

Annabeth scratched under Cerberus's right head here. "Thanks for your help boy," she told him. "Time for you to go back to guard duty. Can't let you stay away from you job too long."

Cerberus let out a whine. Grover and I stood awkwardly behind her.

"I know, but if you don't go the Underworld might get out of control," she said. She sounded so upset that it even made me a little upset.

Cerberus made another whine, like he was saying he didn't want to go.

"Just go," Annabeth said clearly frustrated. "I'll tell Hades to play with you more. Huh? How about that?"

Cerberus whined again. His left head licked Annabeth from toe to head making her giggle cutely.

She wiped the slobber from her face. "Good. Now go." She pointed into the distance.

I could feel my eyes getting a little misty. There was sniffling next to me, I looked just as Grover looked at me. We made eye contact for a brief second then turned away crossing our arms over our chest and clearing our throats.

Cerberus turned around and walked away, his heads drooped sadly. He looked back at Annabeth again, all three heads giving big puppy eyes.

"Go!" Annabeth insisted, hew voice cracking a little bit. Cerberus's ears drooped, but he turned around and walked away disappearing into the darkness. Annabeth sniffled and wiped at her face. "I'm not crying," she told us. "I just still have dog slobber on my face."

She turned back to us, her eyes were a little bit red, and like a couple of morons, Grover and I wrapped our arms around each other and began crying.

"That was so beautiful!" Grover wailed.

Annabeth rolled her eyes, an amused grin on her face. "Come on you two. We've got a god to talk too." She walked past us.

Grover and I continued sniffling. "Just give us a sec," I croaked. I cleared my throat loudly and wiped at my eyes. Once I was sobered up and not crying like a little baby, I caught up with Annabeth.

"So, why'd you tell Cerberus to go?" I asked her.

"We couldn't trust him," she said, her voice sounding somewhere between sad and angry. "He might have liked us, but he's still loyal to Hades, who could easily just turn him against us."

"You don't know that," I said trying to be reassuring.

"Doesn't matter. It was the best thing to do." Before I could argue, she stopped and looked around worriedly. "Where's Grover?"

I turned around thinking he'd be right behind me, but he wasn't on the path we had taken. Instead, he was off to the side, standing in front of one of the pomegranate tree. And in his hand was a round orange object. I realized it was a fruit from the said tree.

"Grover! Don't eat that!" Annabeth shouted at him. However Grover didn't listen, or maybe he just didn't hear her, but either way, I summoned my bow and arrows and quickly fired an arrow.

It whistled though the air, headed straight for Grover's direction, and just as he was about to take a bite, the arrow went straight through his head, blood splattering everywhere and once he hit the ground, he turned into a shrub.

 **(A/N HAHAHAHAHAHA XD I'm just kidding, I couldn't help myself)**

The arrow pierced the grapefruit and pulled it along onto it's path away from Grover's mouth. Grover's eyes shot wide open in surprise and he jumped back startled. Annabeth marched right up to him and dragged him away from the tree.

"What were you thinking, Grover?" Annabeth scolded. "You can't eat anything from the Underworld."

"Yeah, unless you want to stay down here forever," I said.

"I'm sorry," Grover said. "It's just that, it smelled so tempting. I couldn't help myself."

"It's alright Grover," I said, putting my weapons away. "I know what you mean. I can smell those things from here. Can't imagine what it must be like for you."

Grover smiled appreciatively, "Thanks, Perce."

Annabeth exhaled sharply. "Just stay in between Percy and me so we can keep an eye on you."

Grover flicked his gaze between Annabeth and I repeatedly, looking mildly uncomfortable with the idea. "Uhh, are you sure? I don't want to intrude on anything."

"Intrude on what?" We asked.

"Nothing," he muttered. "Let's just go now." He trotted up further up the path. Annabeth and I shared a confused look then pulled up on either side of him.

We walked up the steps of the palace, between black columns, through a black portico and into the house of Hades. The entry hall had a polished bronze floor, which seemed to boil in the reflected torchlight. There was no ceiling, just the cavern roof, far above. I guess they never had to worry about rain down here.

Every side doorway was guarded by a skeleton in military gear. Some wore Greek armor, some British redcoat uniforms, some camouflage with tattered American flags on the shoulder. They carried spears or muskets or M-16's. None of them bothered us, but their hollow eye sockets followed us as we walked down the hall, towards the big set of doors at the opposite end.

From one of the side doors, out came a skeleton in familiar clothing. My friends and I stopped.

"That's ..." Annabeth said.

"A Lotus Hotel worker." I finished. The worker walked past us, not even regarding us and disappeared into another side room.

"What is he doing here?" Annabeth asked.

I recalled the times when I had shot some of the Casino workers and they burst into flames. Nico had said that he thought some of them looked see through. I finally understood why.

"Hades must have sent them sent them to keep us trapped," I said.

"That way the war would have started before we even got here," Annabeth said, catching onto what I was thinking.

"Right," I said. "Which means that Hades must have the bolt."

Knowing that made me feel a little bit better about coming down here, and that it wasn't some pointless trip we made. We continued on our way down the corridor.

Two U.S. Marine skeletons guarded the doors. They grinned down at us, rocket propelled grenade launchers held across their chests. _That's not overkill at all._

"You know," Grover mumbled. "I bet Hades doesn't have trouble with door to door salesmen."

My backpack weighed a ton now. I couldn't figure out why. I wanted to open it, check to see if I had somehow picked up a stray bowling ball, but this wasn't the time.

"Well, guys," I said. "I suppose we should ... knock?" We all looked at each other, none of us wanted to be the one to knock. "Grover. Knock."

Grover looked at me in a mixture of shock and fear. "What? Why me?"

"You're the guy in the middle," Annabeth said. "The guy in the middle always knocks."

Grover looked at us as if we had just killed a puppy. "I hate you guys," he muttered. He stared at the giant bronze gates and when he didn't move Annabeth and I shoved him forward.

He yelped and looked at us panicked.

Annabeth just urged him on.

He swallowed and inched closer to the door not taking his eyes off the two guards. "It's just a door," he muttered to himself. "Just a door."

He knocked once and then a hot wind blew down the corridor and the doors swung open. Grover yelped and scrambled back to us. The guards stepped aside.

"I guess that means, _entrez,"_ Annabeth said.

I said, "Ladies first?" Annabeth glared at me. "No? Okay then." I entered the room.

It was exactly as it looked like in my dreams, except this time, the throne of Hades was occupied. Just like my dream with my father, Hades was at least three meters tall, but besides that he was the complete opposite of what my father looked like. He was dressed in silk black robes and a crown of braided gold. His skin was albino white, his hair was shoulder length and jet black. He wasn't bulked like Ares, or Poseidon, but he radiated power. He lounged on his throne of fused human bones, looking lithe, graceful and dangerous as a panther.

I immediately felt like he should be giving the orders. He knew more than I did. He should be my master. Then I told myself to snap out of it.

His aura was affecting me, just as Ares's had. The Lord of the Dead resembled pictures I'd seen of Adolph Hitler, or Napoleon, or the terrorist leaders who direct suicide bombers. Hades had the same intense eyes, the same kind of mesmerizing, evil charisma.

"You are brave to come here, Son of Poseidon," he said in an oily voice. "After what you have done to me, very brave indeed. Or perhaps you are simply very foolish."

Numbness crept into my joints, tempting me to lie down and take a little nap at Hades's feet. Curl up here and sleep forever.

I fought the feeling and stepped forward. I knew what I had to do. I bowed. "Lord and Uncle. I come with a request," I said.

Hades raised an eyebrow. When he sat forward in his throne, shadowy faces appeared in the folds of his black robes, faces of torment, as if the garment were stitched to the trapped souls from the Fields of Punishment, trying to get out. The ADHD part of me wondered, off-task, whether the rest of his clothes were made the same way. What horrible things you'd have to do in your life to get woven into his underwear?

"Only a request?" Hades said. "Bah! You're lucky I haven't struck you down for what you have done to me, boy! The only reason you are alive is because you're my favorite sister's only child. Speak now, do not think I won't."

I swallowed. This was going as well as I'd feared.

I glanced at the empty smaller throne next to Hades's. It was shaped like a black flower, gilded with gold. I wished Queen Persephone were here. I recalled something in the myths about how she could calm her husband's moods. But it was summer. Of course, Persephone would be above in the world of light with her mother, the goddess of agriculture Demeter. Her visits, not the tilt of the earth, created the seasons.

Annabeth cleared her throat. Her finger prodded me in the back.

"Lord Hades," I said. "Look, sir, there can't be war among the gods. It would be ... bad."

"Really bad," Grover added helpfully.

"Return Zeus's master bolt to me," I said. "Please, sir. Let me carry it to Olympus."

Hades's eyes grew dangerously bright. "You dare keep up this pretense, after what you have done?"

I glanced back at my friends. They looked as confused as I was.

"Um ... Uncle," I said. "You keep saying 'after what I have done'. What exactly have I done?"

The throne room shook with a tremor so strong they probably felt it upstairs in Los Angeles. Debris fell from the cavern ceiling. Doors burst open all along the walls, and skeletal warriors marched in, hundreds of them, from every time period and nation in Western civilization, I even saw a few Lotus Casino employees. They lined the perimeter of the room, blocking the exits.

Hades bellowed, "Do you think I _want_ war, godling?"

I wanted to say, _Well these guys don't look like peace activists._ But I thought that would be a dangerous answer.

"You are the Lord of the Dead," I said carefully. "A war would expand your kingdom, right?"

"A typical thing for my brothers to say! Do you think I need more subjects? Did you not see the sprawl of Asphodel?"

"Well ..."

"Have you any idea how much my kingdom has swollen in this past century alone, how many sub-divisions I've had to open?"

I opened my mouth to respond, but Hades was on a roll now.

"More security ghouls," he moaned. "Traffic problems at the judgement pavilion. Double overtime for the staff. I used to be a rich god, Percy Jackson. I control all the precious metals under the earth. But my expenses!"

"Charon wants a pay raise," I blurted just remembering the fact. As soon as I said, I wish I could have sewn my mouth shut.

"Don't get me started on Charon!' Hades yelled. "He's been impossible ever since he discovered Italian suits! Problems everywhere, and I've got to handle all of them personally. No thanks to you, I had to deal with the mess you caused at Lotus Casino."

"You mean when you sent your servants to keep us trapped there, so we couldn't take the bolt from you," I said getting worked up.

"Do not think so highly of yourself, sea-spawn!" Hades yelled. He rose from his throne, towering to the height of a football goal post. "They were their for another purpose entirely! And now, because of you, circumstances have changed. And why, must you keep up this pretense? _You_ are the one who stole the bolt _and_ my helmet. I had foreseen this day many years ago, and I could have stopped it if only I had hired better help. But now, you will be exposed as Poseidon's thief, and I will have my helmet back."

"But ..." Annabeth spoke. I could tell her mind was going a million miles an hour. "Lord Hades, you're helmet of darkness is missing too?"

"Do not play innocent with me, girl. You and the satyr have been helping this so called hero - coming here to threaten me in Poseidon's name, no doubt - to bring me an ultimatum. Does Poseidon think I can be blackmailed into supporting him?"

"No!" I said. "Poseidon didn't - I didn't -"

"I have said nothing of the helmet's disappearance," Hades snarled, "because I had no illusion that anyone on Olympus would offer me the slightest justice, the slightest help. I can ill afford for word to get out that my most powerful weapon of fear is missing. So I searched for you, again, and when it was clear you were coming to me to deliver your threat. I did not try to stop you."

"Wait, searched for me again? What does that-"

"Return my helmet now, or I will stop death,' Hades threatened. "That is my counter-proposal. I will open the earth and have the dead pour back into the world. I will make your lands a nightmare. And you, Percy Jackson - _your_ skeleton will lead my army out of Hades."

The skeletal soldiers all took one step forward, making their weapons ready.

At that point, I probably should have been terrified. But instead, i was frustrated and offended. For two weeks, I was accused of stealing Zeus's master bolt, and now Hades's helm.

"You're as bad as Zeus," I said. "You think I stole from you? That's why you sent the Furies after me? I didn't even know where Olympus was until a few weeks ago."

"It's on the back of a standard drachma, there's no way you could be that stupid," Hades rebutted.

"He really is," Annabeth said.

"Enough of this!" Hades yelled. "Return my property!"

"But I don't have your helmet! I came for the master bolt!"

"Which you already possess!" Hades shouted. "You came here with it, little fool, thinking you could threaten me!"

"But I didn't!"

"Open your pack, then."

A horrible feeling struck me. The weight in my backpack, like a bowling ball. It couldn't be ...

I shrugged it off my shoulder and unzipped it. Inside was a sixty-centimeter-long metal cylinder, spiked on both ends, humming with energy.

"Percy," Annabeth said. "How-"

"I-I don't know. I don't understand."

"You heroes are always the same," Hades said. "Your pride makes you foolish, thinking you could bring such a weapon before me. As I said, I had foreseen this day would come, and now you will yield the master bolt to me. I am sure it will make an excellent bargaining tool. And now ... my helmet. Where is it?"

I was speechless. I had no helmet. I had no idea how the master bolt had got into my backpack. I wanted to think Hades was pulling some kind of trick. Hades was the bad guy. But suddenly the world turned sideways. I realized I'd been played with. Zeus, Poseidon and Hades had been set at each other's throats by someone else. The master bolt had been in the backpack, and I'd got the backpack from ...

"Lord Hades, wait," I said. "This is all a mistake."

"A mistake?!" Hades roared.

The skeletons aimed their weapons. From high above, there was a fluttering of leathery wings, and the three Furies swooped down to perch on the back of their master's throne. The one with Mrs. Dodds face grinned at me eagerly and flicked her whip.

"There is no mistake," Hades said. "I know why you have come - I know the _real_ reason you brought the bolt. It is so you could bargain, and now that you have showed me your bargaining chip, let me show you mine."

Hades loosed a ball of gold fire from his palm. It exploded on the steps in front of me, giving off a bright light that caused me to look away. When I looked, my heart stopped. A shining figure of a woman was floating in front of me.

I was so stunned, so shocked, that I only managed to croak. "Mum."

* * *

 **A/N OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOODS! YYYYEEEEEEESSSSSS! FINALLYYYY! Finally, we have reached the moment I have been waiting for! And yes, I know, I'm absolutely evil and am actually a satyr (no soul) in disguise. Guys, you have no idea how long I've been waiting to finally post this chapter. How many of you saw this coming? How many of you didn't? Please let me know. And also, don't forget to check out my other story, "The Twin's Tales," you can easily find it by going to my profile.**

 **Anyways, I really, really hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, please leave a Review and tell me what you think, and if you really like it, Follow and Favorite.**

 **Goodbye my Greek geeks. Tide out.**


End file.
